Use the search box above to look up the calories of more than 150,000 different foods and drinks quickly and simply.
The calorie checker remembers your search history – handy if you want to stay on top of your day's calorie intake.
For quick access to the calorie checker on the go, save it to your mobile device's home screen, just like an app.
Online calorie counters are one of the easiest ways to track your calories on the NHS Choices weight loss plan.
Use the search history to tot up your day's calorie intake and add it to your food and activity chart (view sample PDF, 545kb).
Our calorie checker's 150,000+ database lists the calorie and fat content of:
- generic foods
- branded products
- meals from around the world
- alcoholic drinks
- restaurant meals, including fast food chains
Your daily calorie allowance on the NHS Choices weight loss plan is 1,900kcal for men and 1,400kcal for women.
If you want a more personal recommended calorie intake tailored to your individual circumstances, use the BMI calculator.
It's also a good idea to get used to reading food labels to find out the calorie content in packaged food and drink.
Calorie counting in practice
Here are some practical examples to show you how to work out the calorie content of your meals, snacks and drinks.
Snacks
It's easy to find the calorie content of a wide range of snacks. Use these examples to help:
- Banana: Use an online calorie counter to find out the calorie content in fruits. The NHS Choices calorie checker says that a medium-sized (100g) banana contains 95kcal (398kJ).
- Kit Kat: Use food labels to find out the calorie content in any packaged foods. Look for the "per bar" or "per packet" figure. A two-finger Kit Kat contains 107kcal (448kJ).
- A scone: If scones, pastries and muffins come in a packet, use the food label. Some cafés and restaurants have calorie labelling in-store, on their menus or online.
Lunch
If you're grabbing lunch on the go, it will often consist of a number of packaged foods, perhaps accompanied by a piece of fruit. For example, you might choose a sandwich, a bottle of orange juice and a banana.
Simply use food labels and an online calorie counter to find out the calorie content of each part of your lunch.
For example:
- Tesco Light Choices chicken, tomato and rocket sandwich – 285kcal (1,191kJ)+
- Apple – 47kcal (196kJ)
Grand total = 332kcal (1,387kJ)
Buying food from your work canteen or a café can make it harder to work out calories. Some cafés and restaurants have calorie labelling in-store, on their menus or online.
Cooking from scratch
When cooking from scratch, you can work out the total calories by adding up the calorie content of each ingredient.
You'll need to use food labels, kitchen scales to weigh ingredients, and an online calorie counter.
Say you're making spaghetti bolognese for four people. Use a non-stick pan so you only need to use a tablespoon of oil to fry the ingredients.
The bolognese sauce contains lean beef mince, onions, chopped tomatoes, carrots, vegetable stock, olive oil, and herbs and spices.
- 280g of dried wholewheat spaghetti – the packet tells you that 100g of dried spaghetti contains 348kcal (1,454kJ). So 280g of dried spaghetti contains (348/100) x 280 = 975kcal (4,075kJ).
- 200g of lean beef mince – the packet says the raw mince contains 171kcal (715kJ) per 100g. So 200g of raw mince contains 171 x 2 = 342kcal (1,429kJ).
- two cans of 400g of chopped tomatoes – each can contains 96kcal. So that's 96 x 2 = 192kcal (802kJ).
- one onion – the NHS Choices calorie checker says a medium raw onion contains 55kcal (230kJ).
- two carrots – the same calorie counter says a carrot contains 35kcal (146kJ). So that's 35 x 2 = 70kcal (292kJ).
- a tablespoon of olive oil for frying the ingredients – according to the calorie checker, this contains 119kcal (497kJ).
- vegetable stock, herbs and spices – the calorie content is almost zero and can be ignored.
The total calorie content of this recipe is 975 + 342 + 192 + 55 + 70 + 119 = 1,753kcal (7,327kJ).
If you eat one quarter (one serving), you will consume 1,753/4 = 438kcal (1,831kJ).
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