Units of measurement and Nutrition

Ingredients and units of measurement

An ingredient can have one or more units of measurement, which are frequently used for ingredient prices. These units can be standard units (mass or volume) or abstract units.

Ingredients' units of measurement are also relevant to nutrition calculations. A sample size is required to enter nutrition information for an ingredient, and in Fillet, sample size is measured in grams (“g”). Therefore, nutrition calculations require conversion to a standard mass unit.

Prepare ingredients for nutrition calculations

If the ingredient already uses a standard mass unit, you don't need to specify conversion to grams ("g"). Fillet can automatically calculate nutrition using this ingredient because Fillet automatically converts between standard mass units.

However, you will have issues if an ingredient uses a unit of measurement that has no conversion to standard mass. Fillet cannot calculate nutrition when that ingredient is used as a component in recipes and menu items.

Before using an ingredient for nutrition calculations, you should do the following:

Set density

Enter a volume amount to convert to mass.
Specify conversion to mass for abstract units

Check that the ingredient's abstract units, if any, have a specified conversion to a standard mass unit. If there is no conversion to standard mass, Fillet cannot calculate nutrition using this ingredient.

Tip: If you frequently use abstract units for ingredients, you should specify conversion at the same time that you create the new abstract unit. This will help you to avoid issues later when working with recipes and menu items.

Recipes and units of measurement

Fillet automatically calculates nutrition information for recipes using their components' nutrition information.

Before using a recipe as a component (as a sub-recipe or in a menu item), you should review its recipe yield units.

Recipe yield units

Recipe yield is the amount of product that is produced by a recipe. In Fillet, recipe yield consists of an amount and a unit of measurement. This unit of measurement can be a standard unit (mass or volume) or an abstract unit.

Abstract units that are used to set recipe yield are called "recipe yield units". Fillet provides a default unit of measurement for recipe yield, which is an abstract unit named "serving". A recipe can have one or more recipe yield units, and you can create your own recipe yield units anytime.

Prepare recipes for nutrition calculations

If you use a standard mass unit to set recipe yield, Fillet can automatically convert between standard mass units. This means that Fillet can do automatic nutrition calculations when you use that recipe as a component. You don't need to specify conversion to grams ("g").

However, you will have issues if a recipe's yield uses a unit of measurement that has no conversion to standard mass. Fillet cannot calculate nutrition when that recipe is used as a component in menu items and other recipes.

Before using a recipe for nutrition calculations, you should do the following:

Specify conversion to mass for recipe yield units

Check that the recipe yield units have a specified conversion to a standard mass unit. You can specify conversion to grams ("g") or any other standard mass unit.
Specify conversion for volume to mass
If you want to use a standard unit of volume to set recipe yield, select the default unit named "serving" and specify conversion from volume to mass. (This is similar to the concept of density which applies to ingredients.)

Tip: If you frequently use abstract units for your recipe yield, you should specify conversion at the same time that you create the new recipe yield unit. This will help you to avoid issues later when using that recipe as a component.

Menu items and units of measurement

Menu items are your products for sale. Menu items are not measured because each menu item is a single item of sale. This is different from recipes where units of measurement are used to set recipe yield.

Units of measurement are relevant to calculations using a menu item's components, such as calculating nutrition information for a menu item.

When adding components to a menu item, you should review those components' units of measurement:

Ingredients inside menu items: Check that the unit of measurement can convert to a standard mass unit. If not, specify conversion to standard mass.
Recipes inside menu items: Check that the unit of measurement used for recipe yield can convert to a standard mass unit. If not, specify conversion to standard mass.

Nutrition