Units of measurement and Origins

Learn how units of measurement are used in Origins calculations and how to avoid issues.

Ingredients and units of measurement

An ingredient can have one or more units of measurement, which are frequently used for ingredient prices. These units can be standard units (mass or volume) or abstract units.

Ingredients' units of measurement are also relevant to Origins calculations.

Origins data is calculated and organized using ingredients' raw mass or raw volume amounts:

The unit of measurement for raw mass is grams ("g").
The unit of measurement for raw volume is milliliters ("mL").

Therefore, Origins calculations require unit conversion in the following contexts:

To use the Mass option in the Origins tab, conversion to standard mass is required.
To use the Volume option in the Origins tab, conversion to standard volume is required.

Fillet can automatically convert between any of the standard mass units, or between any of the standard volume units. However, to convert between a mass unit and a volume unit, you must specify conversion.

New to Fillet Origins?

As you familiarize yourself with Fillet Origins, you can avoid issues by using only standard mass or only standard volume when inputting ingredient amounts.

When using an ingredient as a component, you can use any unit of measure to enter the ingredient amount. However, if you enter ingredient amounts using only standard mass units, you can avoid unit conversion issues that prevent full use of Origins. This is also true if you enter ingredient amounts using only standard volume units.

As you become more familiar with Origins, you will also become more consistent at setting density and specifying conversion for your ingredients.

Avoiding conversion issues

Conversion issues arise because there is no conversion specified between the different units of measurement involved. These conversion issues prevents Fillet apps from doing the relevant calculations.

Mass option for Origins data

If you use only standard mass units to input ingredient amounts, then you should not have any issues.
If you use a mix of standard mass and standard volume units to input ingredient amounts, then you will have issues if an ingredient does not have density set. Density is the conversion between mass and volume amounts of an ingredient.
If you use any abstract units to input ingredient amounts, then you will have issues if you did not specify conversion from the abstract unit to standard mass.

Volume option for Origins data

If you use only standard volume units to input ingredient amounts, then you should not have any issues.
If you use a mix of standard mass and standard volume units to input ingredient amounts, then you will have issues if an ingredient does not have density set. Density is the conversion between mass and volume amounts of an ingredient.
If you use any abstract units to input ingredient amounts, then you will have issues if you did not specify conversion from the abstract unit to standard volume.

Tip: Recipe Yield Units do not affect raw mass or raw volume amounts. If you experience issues when using Origins, go to the Layers tab and review each ingredient. For the Mass option, check that each ingredient can convert to a standard mass unit. For the Volume option, check that each ingredient can convert to a standard volume unit.

Prepare ingredients for nutrition calculations

Before using an ingredient for Origins calculations, you should do the following:

Set density

Enter the conversion between mass and volume amounts of that ingredient.
Specify conversion for abstract units

Check that the ingredient's abstract units have specified conversions to standard units.

If there is no conversion to standard mass, specify conversion from the abstract unit to any standard mass unit. If there is no conversion to standard volume, specify conversion from the abstract unit to any standard volume unit.

Tip: When inputting an ingredient's country of origin data, it is a good idea to review that ingredient's units of measurement, both standard and abstract. If you frequently use abstract units for ingredients, you should specify conversion at the same time that you create the new abstract unit. This will help you to avoid issues later when working elsewhere in the Fillet apps.

Fillet Origins