U.S. Food & Nutrition Statistics
Key figures from the USDA FoodData Central database, computed live from 2,007,636 food records. Every number below is read from the database at page load — current as of April 2026. You are welcome to cite these figures (see the attribution box at the end).
Headline figures
- 2,007,636
- Foods catalogued (all USDA FDC data types)
- 8,229
- USDA laboratory-analyzed reference foods (SR Legacy + Foundation)
- 28
- USDA food groups
- 221 cal
- Average calories per 100g, whole foods
- 287 cal
- Average calories per 100g, packaged foods
- +30%
- Calorie density gap, packaged vs whole foods
- 12 g
- Average protein per 100g, whole foods
By food group
The most calorie-dense USDA food group is fats and oils, averaging 620 calories per 100 g. The least calorie-dense is vegetables and vegetable products, at 63 calories per 100 g. The single highest-protein whole food on record is Soy protein isolate, with 88.3 g of protein per 100 g.
Source: USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy, Foundation, Survey, and Branded Foods). Figures are per 100 g (the USDA storage basis) and reflect the current database release. See the methodology for how the data is processed.