The nutritional declaration is mandatory for all pre-packaged food products (Regulation 1169/2011 on consumer information) and optional for non-pre-packaged food products. This declaration is applicable per 100 g of finished product and optionally per serving.
To perform nutritional calculations, we rely on average data found in various nutritional composition tables (Nubel, Ciqual, Canadian Nutrient File, …) as well as on technical data sheets provided by suppliers.
This method is less expensive than laboratory analyses, but is not suitable for the development of specific products whose ingredients are not found in composition tables, or if the company wishes to highlight a micronutrient whose values are not fully or partially available in the tables. These latter situations require laboratory assays.
We can also calculate the Nutri-score for products and draft the ingredient list, including the highlighting of allergens, based on the company’s recipe sheets and suppliers’ technical data sheets. All in compliance with food legislation.
NutriSphere® Application
We have recently developed an application of calculations nutritional named NutriSphere®, which is a simple tool allowing dietitians to quickly calculate the nutritional intake of recipes or anamneses, by manually entering the weight of foods and preparations or by directly clicking on portion photos.
It is based on Ciqual data and portion photos (plates, glasses) from the quantification book “Tool for Estimating Food Consumption. Quantification Photos – Nutritional Composition”. Photos of the three other types of cuisines will be integrated in version 2.0.
Food Quantification Books
We have published four quantification books to help dietitians, during dietary surveys or consultations, to assess the quantities consumed by respondents or patients. These books feature various culinary preparations, in several photographed portions, and are distinguished by the dietary habits they illustrate: Moroccan, Turkish, Congolese, and Belgian eating habits. These books were produced following the NutriPole project, led by ULB and Haute Ecole Lucia de Brouckère between 2001 and 2005.
To order our books, please send us an email at
cnicolas@meurice.org