Nutrition Facts in Google Sheets
Formula
Pull nutrition facts into cells. =VERVE("nutrition", "banana") returns calories, macros and micronutrients for any food — Sheets or Excel.
=VERVE("nutrition", A2)=VERVE.CALL("nutrition", A2)A2 holds the food you're looking up. Drag the formula down and each row resolves on its own.
With literal values
Nothing has to come from a cell — typed values work the same way.
=VERVE("nutrition", "banana")Inputs
Required inputs are positional, in the order below. Everything else is passed as a "name", value pair after them — the same shape as SUMIFS.
| Input | Type | Where it goes | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
foodRequired | string | argument 2 | Name of the food to look up (e.g. banana, chicken breast, olive oil) (e.g. banana) |
gramsPremium | number | "grams", value | Serving weight in grams to scale the nutrition panel to. Defaults to a per-100-gram basis. (e.g. 118) |
Passing an option
=VERVE("nutrition", A2, "grams", "118")What lands in your sheet
With no "field" pair the formula spills the whole response as two columns — field name on the left, value on the right — starting at the cell you typed in. Make sure the cells below and to the right are empty.
Pulling one value
Add a "field" pair to get a single cell back instead of a table. The field name is the dot-path from the table below.
=VERVE("nutrition", A2, "field", "food")=VERVE.CALL("nutrition", A2, "field", "food")Available fields
#PREMIUM(field) rather than a value, so a locked field never looks like a real answer.| Use as "field" | Type | Example cell value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
food | string | Bananas, raw | Matched food name from the USDA database |
fdcId | number | 173944 | USDA FoodData Central unique identifier for the food |
category | string | Fruits and Fruit Juices | USDA food category the item belongs to |
basis | string | per 100g | Basis the nutrition values are reported on (per 100g, or the requested serving) |
servingSizes | array[3] | list of rows | Common household serving sizes reported for the food |
servingSizes.0.label | string | 1 NLEA serving | |
servingSizes.0.grams | number | 126 | |
nutrition | object | {…} | Headline calories and macronutrients |
nutrition.calories | number | 89 | Energy in kilocalories |
nutrition.protein | number | 1.09 | Protein in grams |
nutrition.totalFat | number | 0.33 | Total fat in grams |
nutrition.carbohydrates | number | 22.8 | Total carbohydrates in grams |
nutrition.fiber | number | 2.6 | Dietary fiber in grams |
nutrition.sugars | number | 12.2 | Total sugars in grams |
micronutrients | object | {…} | Full micronutrient panel |
micronutrients.sodiumPremium | number | 1 | Sodium in milligrams |
micronutrients.potassiumPremium | number | 358 | Potassium in milligrams |
micronutrients.cholesterolPremium | number | 0 | Cholesterol in milligrams |
micronutrients.saturatedFatPremium | number | 0.112 | Saturated fat in grams |
micronutrients.transFatPremium | number | 0 | Trans fat in grams |
micronutrients.monounsaturatedFatPremium | number | 0.032 | Monounsaturated fat in grams |
micronutrients.polyunsaturatedFatPremium | number | 0.073 | Polyunsaturated fat in grams |
micronutrients.calciumPremium | number | 5 | Calcium in milligrams |
micronutrients.ironPremium | number | 0.26 | Iron in milligrams |
micronutrients.magnesiumPremium | number | 27 | Magnesium in milligrams |
micronutrients.phosphorusPremium | number | 22 | Phosphorus in milligrams |
micronutrients.zincPremium | number | 0.15 | Zinc in milligrams |
micronutrients.vitaminCPremium | number | 8.7 | Vitamin C in milligrams |
micronutrients.vitaminAPremium | number | 3 | Vitamin A in micrograms |
micronutrients.vitaminDPremium | number | 0 | Vitamin D in micrograms |
micronutrients.vitaminEPremium | number | 0.1 | Vitamin E in milligrams |
micronutrients.vitaminKPremium | number | 0.5 | Vitamin K in micrograms |
micronutrients.thiaminPremium | number | 0.031 | Thiamin (B1) in milligrams |
micronutrients.riboflavinPremium | number | 0.073 | Riboflavin (B2) in milligrams |
micronutrients.niacinPremium | number | 0.665 | Niacin (B3) in milligrams |
micronutrients.vitaminB6Premium | number | 0.367 | Vitamin B6 in milligrams |
micronutrients.folatePremium | number | 20 | Folate in micrograms |
micronutrients.vitaminB12Premium | number | 0 | Vitamin B12 in micrograms |
micronutrients.waterPremium | number | 74.9 | Water content in grams |
analytics | object | {…} | Derived nutrition intelligence |
analytics.caloriesPerGramPremium | number | 0.89 | Energy density in calories per gram |
analytics.proteinCaloriePercentPremium | number | 4.4 | Share of calories from protein (percent) |
analytics.fatCaloriePercentPremium | number | 3 | Share of calories from fat (percent) |
analytics.carbCaloriePercentPremium | number | 92.6 | Share of calories from carbohydrate (percent) |
analytics.proteinPer100CaloriesPremium | number | 1.22 | Grams of protein per 100 calories |
dailyValues | object | {…} | Percent of the FDA Daily Value each nutrient supplies on the reported basis |
dailyValues.proteinPremium | number | 2.2 | Protein as a percent of the Daily Value |
dailyValues.totalFatPremium | number | 0.4 | Total fat as a percent of the Daily Value |
dailyValues.saturatedFatPremium | number | 0.6 | Saturated fat as a percent of the Daily Value |
dailyValues.cholesterolPremium | number | 0 | Cholesterol as a percent of the Daily Value |
dailyValues.sodiumPremium | number | 0 | Sodium as a percent of the Daily Value |
dailyValues.carbohydratesPremium | number | 8.3 | Total carbohydrates as a percent of the Daily Value |
dailyValues.fiberPremium | number | 9.3 | Dietary fiber as a percent of the Daily Value |
dailyValues.potassiumPremium | number | 7.6 | Potassium as a percent of the Daily Value |
dailyValues.calciumPremium | number | 0.4 | Calcium as a percent of the Daily Value |
dailyValues.ironPremium | number | 1.4 | Iron as a percent of the Daily Value |
dailyValues.magnesiumPremium | number | 6.4 | Magnesium as a percent of the Daily Value |
dailyValues.phosphorusPremium | number | 1.8 | Phosphorus as a percent of the Daily Value |
dailyValues.zincPremium | number | 1.4 | Zinc as a percent of the Daily Value |
dailyValues.vitaminCPremium | number | 9.7 | Vitamin C as a percent of the Daily Value |
Filling a whole column
Hand the first argument a range instead of a cell and the add-in makes one batched call for the lot, then spills the answers down. That is faster than dragging the formula and costs the same credits — one per row looked up.
=VERVE("nutrition", A2:A100, "field", "food")=VERVE.CALL("nutrition", A2:A100, "field", "food")A2:A100 is the column of food values. The result spills down alongside it, one row per input, blanks skipped.
When a cell doesn't fill
A failed lookup returns readable text starting with #ERR rather than a spreadsheet error, because Excel cannot show a custom message on a real error — you would get a bare #VALUE! with no reason. The trade-off is that IFERROR() won't catch it; test with LEFT(cell, 4) = "#ERR" instead.
| Cell reads | What happened |
|---|---|
#ERR Not connected | No API key saved. Open the side panel and connect your account. |
#ERR Replace <name> with a cell or value | The preview formula was copied as-is. Swap the placeholder for a cell reference. |
#ERR No "x" in nutrition | An option name that this source doesn't take. The message lists the ones it does. |
#ERR No data point "…" | The "field" path isn't in the response. Check the dot-path against the table above. |
#PREMIUM(field) | The field exists but your plan doesn't include it. |
#ERR Out of credits | The month's credits are spent. Usage resets on your billing date. |
Before the formula works
The add-in reads the API key you saved once in the side panel — the key never goes in the formula, so a shared sheet doesn't leak it and a collaborator without access simply sees the last calculated values.
- Install the add-in for Google Sheets or Excel.
- Open the side panel and sign in, or paste a key from your dashboard.
- Type the formula above into any cell.
Other ways to use Nutrition Facts in Google Sheets
Set up Nutrition Facts in Google Sheets on VerveSheets, or reach the same source a different way. Your VerveSheets account and credits work on all of them — one key, one balance.
Frequently asked questions
Does Nutrition Facts in Google Sheets work in both Google Sheets and Excel?
Yes — the same source, the same arguments. Sheets calls it =VERVE("nutrition", …) and Excel calls it =VERVE.CALL("nutrition", …); that function name is the only difference.
Do the cells recalculate on their own?
They recalculate when the sheet does — on edit, on open, or on a manual recalc. Each recalculation is a fresh call and spends credits, so for a large static column it's worth copying the results and pasting them as values.
How many credits does a filled column cost?
1 credit per row looked up, whether you drag the formula or pass a range. The range form is one HTTP call instead of many, but the credit count is the same.
Can I share the sheet without sharing my key?
Yes. The key is stored against your account, not in the file. Collaborators see the values already in the cells; formulas only recalculate for someone who has connected their own account.
Why is a cell showing #ERR instead of an error?
So you can read the reason. Excel can't display a custom message on a real spreadsheet error, so the add-in returns the explanation as text on both platforms instead.