In order to produce a nutrition label in meez certain criteria need to be met. If you are seeing an error message and no label, addressing these should help.
Every Ingredient must be linked to nutritional data or marked as non-edible
The recipe must have a Total Yield
Each ingredient must be entered with a unit of measure that is or can be converted to a weight measure.
Any sub recipes must also have complete nutritional data
Serving size must be entered and work with the total yield
All ingredients must be defined
Every ingredient must be linked to nutrition data or marked as non edible
Ingredients can be linked to nutrition data two ways
If all ingredients are marked as non-edible no nutrition label will form.
Reminder only meez system ingredient automatically have allergens attached. New custom ingredients will need to have allergens attached manually. Custom nutrition submissions have a section for you to enter allergens.
Total Yield
The total yield must be entered on the recipe, with quantity and units.
When creating nutrition labels the auto-calculate yield function is highly recommended.
The total yield will also need to be a weight measure or have a Unit of Measure Equivalency set up to convert the yield into a weight measure. For example setting the recipes UoM Equivalency to say how much 1 serving weighs: 22oz-wt = 1 serving.
To learn more about UoM Equivalencies see this help article.
Sub recipes
Any sub recipes must meet all requirements to create a nutrition label.
The sub recipes total yield must also be a weight measure or have a UoM Equivalency defining how the yield can be converted into weight.
Total yield can be entered in volume or as a serving, but the UoM Equivalency tab will need a conversion to say how much 1 serving is equal to in weight. Or for example if your total yield is in quart, the UoM Equivalency must have a volume to weight conversion.
Serving size
The serving size needs to be entered on the nutrition tab and must match the total yield or have a conversion set up on the UoM Equivalency tab to convert from the yield to the serving size.
Troubleshooting
Information on your nutrition label look off? Not sure which ingredient is causing the calories or fat content to be higher than expected?
One of the ways to narrow down information by ingredients is to create a copy of the recipe and remove each ingredient one by one.
While removing each ingredient keep an eye on and record the changes in your nutrition label.
Removing the ingredients one at a time you can find which causes the biggest change and account for each ingredients contribution to the total.
Turn on auto-calculate yield.
When determining the exact weight of a recipe it can help to take out the guesswork.
Check the linked USDA ingredient.
Double check the USDA linked ingredient to make sure it is as accurate an equivalent as possible.
Custom nutrition information
Can't find a USDA equivalent that matches your ingredient? You can submit a custom nutrition form and attach the exact nutrition information from your ingredients label to your ingredient.
You can find the custom nutrition form link in two places in the app.
First on the nutrition modal when you are linking USDA ingredients on the recipe. It is under the Display name for nutrition label section.
Or on the ingredients page, click edit and go to the nutrition tab. The link is in the Nutrition Label paragraph.
Yield after Cooking
Some ingredients lose yield due to cooking, for example poultry and other meats as well as ingredients like water and oil. With nutrition being based on weight, we must take into account that loss from cooking. That is where entering a yield after cooking percentage comes in.
You can find the yield after cooking section by clicking edit, going to the nutrition tab and scrolling down. Right next to where you linked the USDA ingredient.
If you are using the auto calculate total yield function, changing the yield after cooking percentage will automatically update the total yield on your recipe.
This in turn adjusts the weights of your total recipe for nutrition purposes and shows you the now accurate amounts on your nutrition label.
For example your Chicken Breast ingredient could lose 20% yield due to cooking. Or your recipe loses 50% of its water during cooking.
Have more questions about nutrition in meez or creating nutrition labels? Reach out to us through the question mark in the app or at support@getmeez.com.