NEAT (Nutrition Education Action Team) Program
HELPFUL HINTS FOR LISTING FOODS
1. Be sure to write down foods as you eat them so that you can record the amounts accurately.
2. Write down specific information on how the food was cooked (fried, baked, broiled, steamed).
3. Write down whether the food was freshly prepared, frozen, canned, or otherwise processed.
Canned foods should include the type of liquid in which the food was packed (heavy syrup, oil-
packed, water).
4. Many common mixed dishes, such as chili, macaroni and cheese, or tuna noodle casserole, can be
found in the database. If you ate a more unique dish, however, you will need to list the individual
foods in the recipe. For example:
If you ate ¼ of the recipe, be sure to list only ¼ of the amount of the ingredients.
5. Use measuring cups and spoons to determine how much was eaten.
6. Prep means prepared and ready to eat. For example: “Fruit Juice, Orange, frozen concentrate,
unsweetened, prep” means that the frozen concentrate has been diluted with water to make
juice.
7. Dry means uncooked or unprepared. Examples: oatmeal, dry or rice, dry means uncooked and
expand to double or triple when cooked.
8. 8 oz. is not 1 cup for dry items such as cereal. Use oz. primarily for liquids or meat, unless you get
information from the package.