May 30, 2003 - The Issue Panel recommended that nutrition programs plan and evaluate meals to meet nutrient requirements using nutrient analysis software. The software you select should incorporate the latest version of the database, which is, as of this writing, Release 21. The USDA has compiled a handy list of 14 “approved” programs—that is, software that they deem acceptable as a nutrition analysis tool to be used for USDA public health programs. • What computer will you use?
Nutritional information is becoming more and more important as people become more conscious of what they're putting into their bodies. Nutrition Facts is a simple program that contains nutritional information for more than 7,500 foods. It's definitely not the most comprehensive option available for accessing nutritional information, but it's not bad.
The program's interface is plain and intuitive. You enter the name of a food into a search box and the program returns a list of possibilities. Click on one and the nutritional information is displayed in a pane on the right. In addition to the nutritional basics, there's also detailed information about vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids. The program fared well with basic, unprocessed foods, and it contains some name-brand items, but it doesn't contain a fraction of the foods that are commonly available these days. It's particularly lacking when it comes to natural, organic, and ethnic foods. This wouldn't be as much of a drawback if you could add your own items to the database, but Nutrition Facts doesn't have that feature. We also question why anyone would use a program like this when there is so much more nutritional information available from different sources on the Internet. Still, if you need a nutritional database that can be accessed offline, Nutrition Facts isn't a bad choice. It's easy to use, and while it doesn't have a Help file per se, its online FAQ answers any potential questions.
Nutrition Facts installs and uninstalls without issues.