Create custom foods

If you can’t find a food in our database, or if you want to log a supplement, you can create a custom food which you can add to the daily log. When you create a custom food, Carb Manager automatically adds it to your My Foods list and your favorite foods list so you can find it later.

Watch: How to create a custom food

1. Web app users: Go to the  Daily Log.
2. Select  Add Item >  Add Food.
3. Select  Add > Create Custom Food.
   Tip: Or, select  Meals > Create Food.
4. On the Create Food screen, enter details about the food, including its name, serving information, and nutrition facts, as described in the following steps.
   1. Enter a name for the food.
   2. Enter Serving information, including an Amount, Serving Size, and Weight per serving (optional).
      Important: Be sure to enter an accurate serving amount and serving size. If you are creating a custom food based on a nutrition label, enter the serving information exactly as it appears on the label. This will ensure Carb Manager accurately calculates your nutrition and health data and the data for other users if you publish the food to our database.
      Tip: If you don’t see a Serving Size description that matches your food, select Other from the list and enter your own serving size description. For example, if you are creating a custom veggie burger, you could enter burger as the serving size description.
      Tip: To enter part of a whole serving, either enter a decimal in the Servings field, such as .5, or select a fraction from the list, such as 1/2. In the mobile app, if you only want to select whole and partial servings from a list instead of entering numbers, select Switch to Selector.
   3. Optional: If your custom food has a UPC label and you want to be able to scan its barcode in the future, enter the numbers for the UPC Code. If you publish the food as described later in this article, and if the UPC code you enter is unique in our database, Carb Manager will display your custom food when you or other users scan the barcode.
   4. Enter the food’s Nutrition Facts. To see all available fields, select Show Advanced.
      Important: If you are creating a custom food based on a nutrition label, be sure to enter the nutrition values exactly as they appear on the label. This will ensure Carb Manager accurately calculates your nutrition and health data and the data for other users if you publish the food to our database.
      Tip: Are you logging carbs? If you need help deciding whether to select Total or Net carbs, here’s a reminder: total carbs are all carbs, including fiber and sugar alcohols. Net carbs are total carbs minus fiber and sugar alcohols. Nutrition labels typically list total carbs, so be sure to enter the correct values for fiber and sugar alcohols, and the net carbs value will calculate automatically. For more information, especially if you live in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, or the UK, see Track total carbs, net carbs, or diabetes carbs.
   5. Optional: To include a picture of the food, either select Set Icon and choose an image from Carb Manager's library of icons, or select Add Photo and select an image from your mobile device or computer.
5. Select Save.
6. Optional: Complete any of the following steps.
   • If you entered a UPC Code earlier, or if you want other members to find the food, select Publish to Database to add the food to our database.
     Tip: Later, to unpublish a food and remove it from our database, select Publish To Database to turn off the setting.
   • Optional: To save the custom food to a specific folder in the My Foods tab, either select a folder from the list or complete the following steps to create a new folder.
     1. Select New Folder.
     2. Enter a Folder Name.
     3. Select  Add.
7. Select Create Custom Food.

The custom food is now ready for you to log. The food appears in My Foods and is automatically added to your list of favorite foods.