What is DELI Calculator?
DELI ("fooD rEcipe environmentaL Impact") Calculator is a web application designed to provide comprehensive, quantitative sustainability assessment of food recipes. Our mission is to empower individuals, chefs, and food businesses to make informed decisions about their food choices by understanding their environmental footprint.
Developed by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), DELI Calculator uses scientifically robust data to estimate the carbon emissions, water usage, and land use associated with food ingredients and recipes.
More information about the app architecture and development can be found via our GitHub repository: DELI Calculator GitHub Repository
How DELI Calculator Works
DELI Calculator currently reports a cradle-to-consumer scope based on the linked supply-chain datasets. This means the results cover upstream production and supply-chain impacts associated with ingredients up to the consumer stage, but they do not include home preparation, cooking energy, refrigeration in the kitchen, or post-purchase food waste.
Recipe Analysis
Paste a recipe URL or manually input ingredients to analyze the environmental impact of any dish.
Data Sources
Our calculations are based on the FABIO database and on Paula Alejandra Barco Alzate's work. Her DELI Calculator repository (GitHub) builds on the Poore and Nemecek ingredient classification and AGRIBALYSE definitions, helping provide the ingredient-level structure used in this app.
Impact Metrics
Get detailed breakdowns of biodiversity impacts, CO₂ emissions, water usage, and land use for the entire recipe, including how production-linked contributions are distributed across producing countries worldwide.
Why Food Environmental Impact Matters
The food system is responsible for approximately 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions, 70% of freshwater use, and 50% of habitable land use. By understanding the environmental impact of our food choices, we can collectively make a significant difference in reducing our ecological footprint.
DELI Calculator helps bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and everyday cooking decisions, making sustainability accessible to everyone.
Our Team
Dr. Bo Huang
Lead Scientist
Dr. Konstantin Stadler
Lead Scientist
Prof. Francesca Verones
Project lead
Frequently Asked Questions
Our calculations build on the FABIO database and on Paula Alejandra Barco Alzate's work, including the ingredient-level structure in her DELI Calculator repository. That work is based on the Poore and Nemecek ingredient classification and AGRIBALYSE definitions. The results are therefore grounded in robust scientific data sources, but they are still estimates based on average values. Actual impacts can vary with farming practices, sourcing choices, transport routes, processing details, and other real-world conditions.
The map shows producing countries that contribute to the selected indicator for the ingredients in your recipe. It is not a map of where damages are experienced after production. For example, the climate change map shows where production-linked greenhouse gas emissions occur in the supply chain represented by the underlying data.
GWP100 means global warming potential over a 100-year time horizon and is reported as CO₂-equivalents. The other indicators use the units in the source datasets: biodiversity in PDF·yr, water use in m³, and land use in m² or hectares when values are large.
DELI Calculator may be useful for restaurants, food businesses, and other organizations that want to explore recipe impacts. If you plan to use the tool in a formal or commercial setting, please contact us first so the scope, assumptions, and current beta-stage limitations are clear.
The app is currently in beta testing. Updates are made as the project develops and as feedback is incorporated, but the database should not be interpreted as continuously refreshed in real time. When important methodological or data improvements are integrated, they will be reflected in the calculator.
The public calculator does not currently send your full recipe to a permanent user database on the server as part of normal use. However, some recipe-related state can be stored locally in your browser, for example to keep comparison results or transfer a selected recipe between pages. The app also records basic usage metrics such as page views and calculation events by country.