Most chains publish a nutrition guide: a long PDF or web table with every item, size and sauce. It is the most reliable source there is, and it is also easy to misread. Here is how we read them when we build our calculators, and what to watch for.
1. Find the serving the row describes
Every row is one serving as named, made with the standard recipe. Sizes are separate rows, and they do not scale evenly. A medium is not simply twice a small:
| Restaurant | Calories by size |
|---|---|
| McDonald's | French Fries (Small): 230 French Fries (Medium): 320 French Fries (Large): 480 |
| McDonald's | Chicken McNuggets (4 pc): 170 Chicken McNuggets (6 pc): 250 Chicken McNuggets (10 pc): 410 Chicken McNuggets (20 pc): 830 |
| Five Guys | Little Fries (Five Guys Style): 526 Regular Fries (Five Guys Style): 953 Large Fries (Five Guys Style): 1,314 |
So always read the exact size you order. Pizza chains list nutrition per slice, and wings are often listed per wing, so multiply by what you actually eat.
2. Check whether the table lists finished items or ingredients
Some chains publish finished items (a Big Mac is 580 calories). Others publish ingredients or components and leave the adding up to you. Chipotle lists each ingredient by portion, for example a flour tortilla for a burrito is 320 calories and a portion of chicken 180. Five Guys lists bun, patty and each topping. For these chains, a burrito or burger is the sum of every part, which is exactly what our Chipotle calculator does.
3. Read the small print on sandwiches and salads
A “standard recipe” can include more than you think. Subway’s 6-inch subs are listed with the bread, cheese, vegetables and default sauce Subway uses, which is why a 6″ Oven-Roasted Turkey is 470 calories as served. Salads are often listed with the default dressing and chicken. If you order it differently, the number changes.
4. Know the units
- Calories, grams (fat, carbohydrate, protein) and milligrams (sodium). 1,000 mg of sodium is 1 gram.
- “Less than 1 g” or “<1” means a small amount that rounds below one gram. We store it as 0.
- Total carbohydrate includes fiber and sugar. Many guides list them on separate lines.
- % Daily Value, where shown, is based on a 2,000-calorie day and 2,300 mg of sodium.
5. Look for the date and the country
Every guide has an “updated” date, usually in the footer. Nutrition changes when recipes change, so a guide from two years ago can be wrong today. Guides are also country-specific: the same item can have a different recipe in another country. Our data covers U.S. menus only, and every calculator page shows the guide we used and the date we checked it.
6. Add up your order
Add every item, side, drink and sauce, each at the size you order. That is tedious with a PDF and quick with a calculator: pick a chain from our list of calculators and every add-on the chain publishes is counted for you. If something in our data doesn’t match the guide you are looking at, please report it.
Sources
- FDA: How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label
- Menu figures: each restaurant’s official U.S. nutrition information, as linked on the methodology page.