Serving Sizes

Serving sizes are labels that help quantify food entries in a user-friendly way. Each serving size is associated with an amount and a base unit (g or ml).

Serving sizes are reference metadata and are not passed as input values to our API endpoints. The same label can represent different amounts depending on the food item. For example, one slice of bread is not necessarily the same amount as one slice of cheese.

Persist amount and unit

Always store the associated amount and unit of a serving size. These values can change across data versions.

Attribute standard_serving_type

standard_serving_type indicates the serving size type that is most likely to be selected by users.

This can be used to preselect a serving size and reduce user interaction.

Important behavior:

• standard_serving_type can be null or empty.
• serving_sizes can also be empty, although this is rare.
• A food may have serving_sizes but no standard_serving_type.
• It is not possible for standard_serving_type to reference a serving type that does not exist in serving_sizes.
• Possible serving size keys are documented here:

Recommended integration behavior:

• If standard_serving_type is present, preselect the matching entry from serving_sizes.
• If standard_serving_type is missing, fall back to your existing serving-size selection behavior.
• If no suitable serving size is available, you should always allow users to manually enter weight or volume.
• For the most accurate input possible, we recommend always offering a manual weight or volume input in addition to serving sizes, for users who are willing to put in a little extra effort to get more accurate evaluations.

Available Serving Size Labels

Serving Key	Label EN	Label DE
package	Package	Packung
pinch	Pinch	Prise
teaspoon	Teaspoon	Teelöffel
tablespoon	Tablespoon	Esslöffel
portion	Portion	Portion
small_slice	Slice, small	Scheibe, klein
medium_slice	Slice	Scheibe
large_slice	Slice, large	Scheibe, groß
small_piece	Piece, small	Stück, klein
medium_piece	Piece	Stück
large_piece	Piece, large	Stück, groß
small_whole	Whole, small	Ganz, klein
medium_whole	Whole	Ganz
large_whole	Whole, large	Ganz, groß
small_cup	Cup, small	Tasse, klein
medium_cup	Cup	Tasse
large_cup	Cup, large	Tasse, groß
small_glass	Glass, small	Glas, klein
medium_glass	Glass	Glas
large_glass	Glass, large	Glas, groß
small_bottle	Bottle, small	Flasche, klein
medium_bottle	Bottle	Flasche
large_bottle	Bottle, large	Flasche, groß
small_bowl	Bowl, small	Schüssel, klein
medium_bowl	Bowl	Schüssel
large_bowl	Bowl, large	Schüssel, groß
small_toe	Toe, small	Zehe, klein
medium_toe	Toe	Zehe
large_toe	Toe, large	Zehe, groß