Set Ingredient Nutritional Information

Why set Ingredient Nutritional Information?

Setting accurate nutritional information for your raw materials ensures that FlexiBake can automatically calculate recipe nutrition, generate compliant labels, and maintain consistency across your products.

Once nutritional data is saved for an ingredient, it flows into any recipe or finished product that uses it for Calculated Nutrient Values. This process supports:

Manual data entry from supplier specs.
Database lookup from USDA or CFIA.
Adjustments for processing changes like water loss during baking or fat absorption during frying — both of which can significantly change the final nutritional values of your product.

Notes:

Ensure the ingredient is already created in FlexiBake. If not, see Create a Raw Material.
If you have lab-tested or fixed values for nutrients in your products, you can set and use stored nutritional values instead. Otherwise you will set nutritional information on your ingredients and keep Calculated Nutrient Values so values roll up from ingredients and processing.

Steps to add Nutritional Information to a Raw Material

Step 1:

Navigate to the Inventory Centre and click Maintain Raw Materials.

Step 2:

Select the ingredient you want to update and click Edit.

Step 3:

Click the Nutritional Analysis tab in the ingredient window.

You can also record allergens on the Allergens tab for this raw material—these flow through to ingredient statements and labels. For more information see Record Allergens of a Raw Material.

Step 4:

Select the appropriate RDI Region from the drop-down list (e.g., Canada, U.S., Australia/NZ).

Tip: Region drives %DV on labels; your default panel style can be set in Preferences. Set your default Nutrition Facts panel style for your region so labels are consistent later. Link to Setting a Default Nutritional Facts Panel Format.

Enter the Basic Nutrients such as Energy (calories), Fat, Carbohydrates, Protein, Sodium, and other primary nutrients.
Click Detailed Nutrient Values to add additional nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and fat sub-categories.

Missing values later? Run Ingredients Missing Nutrient Data report to see which raw materials still need entries. Or the Ingredients Missing Nutrient Data by Supplier report.

Step 5:

Alternatively, Click Get From Database to pull data from the USDA or CFIA. Best practice is to prefer supplier specs when available; use USDA/CFIA database for estimates.

1. Select the Database from the drop-down at the top of the window.
2. Search for the ingredient, in the grid below the Description, click on an item to select it.
3. The Nutrient Breakdown will populate below. Click OK in the top right of this window to save.

Step 6:

Click OK in the top right corner of the Raw Material to save.

Tip: For Best Results

Use supplier data whenever possible — it’s the most accurate source.
Review and update nutritional data annually or when supplier specs change.

Video Tutorial

A video tutorial on adding nutritional information is available below.

Next Steps: Make and place your Nutrition Facts Panel

Enter the Serving Size of a Product - needed for per-serving panel values.
Setting a Default Nutritional Facts Panel Format - ensure consistent, region-compliant panels.
Adding a Nutritional Panel to a Label - drop a panel onto your label template.
Resize Nutritional Facts Panels - if a panel must be adjusted—use with care for compliance.
Export Nutritional Facts Bitmap File - send an image to a designer or external tool.
Assign a Label Template to a Product - ensure each product prints the right label.
Print Product Labels for an Individual Product - quick one-off printing; page links to other print workflows incl. multi-product.

Questions this article might be helpful for answering:

How can I create USDA- or CFIA-compliant Nutrition Facts labels?
How do I calculate nutrition for a recipe or finished product from ingredient data I’ve entered?
Why are some nutrients missing on my product’s Nutrition Facts panel? (Do my ingredients have all required basic and detailed nutrients entered?)
Where do I set my region (RDI) so % Daily Value is calculated for Canada, U.S., or Australia/NZ?
Can FlexiBake pull nutrient values from a database, or do I have to enter them all manually? (USDA/CFIA lookup vs. supplier specs)
How do I switch a recipe/product between Calculated nutrients and Stored (fixed) nutrient values?
My label didn’t update after I changed a recipe—how do I make sure nutrients are recalculating along the whole chain?
How do I account for water loss during baking or fat absorption during frying so my nutrition is accurate?
How do I set the serving size so the panel shows per-serving values correctly?
Which Nutrition Facts panel format should I use for my region, and how do I set a default?
How do I add a Nutrition Facts panel to my label template (and where will the numbers come from)?
Can I export a Nutrition Facts panel as an image (BMP) for a designer or another labeling tool?
Can I place multiple Nutrition Facts panels on a single label (e.g., bilingual or multi-pack)?
How do I resize a Nutrition Facts panel to fit my label—and what should I watch out for to stay compliant?
How can I find which ingredients are missing nutrition data so I can finish my labels?
How do I tag allergens on ingredients so allergen statements carry through to products and labels?
How do I set a simpler “display name” for ingredients so my ingredient statement reads the way consumers expect? (And add bilingual display names.)
For Canadian labels, how do I group sugars in the ingredient list to meet CFIA rules?