A food photo can offer clues. It can’t weigh your serving.

Start with what you can see

Shape, visible ingredients, colour, cooking method, and how a food is served can all help narrow a match. A name helps too, especially a local name or spelling. When several dishes could fit, treat an identification as a likely match rather than a confirmation.

Names and recipes travel

The same dish may have different names, ingredients, or serving customs from one region or household to another. A familiar label does not guarantee one recipe. If you know where a name is used or what is in the dish, add it as context. There may still be more than one reasonable interpretation.

A photo is not a scale

Calories and protein depend on the recipe and how much is in the serving. A photo cannot show its exact weight, and a dish name cannot settle its ingredients. If you know the amount, add a weight, a household measure, or the number of pieces. Ingredients and preparation details can help explain what the serving contains.

Food Says Hi gives rough calories and protein only when the available portion details support an estimate, and shows the portion assumption. Without enough detail, it may leave those figures out. A number without a serving to attach it to can look more certain than it is.

Food records are references, not a plate scale

USDA FoodData Central’s Foundation Foods documentation describes nutrient information for individual food records. Some records include household measures and weights; those details belong to that particular record. They can help with a reference for a food, but they do not tell us the recipe or weight of a prepared serving in a photo.