Managing Ingredients

Once your products are mapped, they live in your ingredient catalog — a searchable, filterable database of everything your kitchen uses. This is where you review nutrition values, update allergen flags, upload product photos, and keep your data accurate over time.

Ingredient Catalog

Navigate to Ingredients > Catalog to access your full ingredient list. The catalog displays all mapped products with key information at a glance:

• Ingredient name — The standardized name used across your account.
• Category — Food group (e.g., oils, dairy, spices, vegetables).
• Allergens — Icons showing which of the EU-14 allergens are flagged.
• Verification status — Whether the ingredient has been verified against a product label.
• Source — Where the nutrition data comes from (BLS reference, label upload, or manual entry).

Searching and Filtering

Use the search bar at the top to find ingredients by name. You can also filter by:

• Category — Show only ingredients in a specific food group.
• Allergen — Find all ingredients containing a specific allergen (e.g., „show me everything with gluten“).
• Verification status — Filter for unverified ingredients that need review.

Tip: Use the allergen filter when preparing for health inspections or updating your allergen documentation. It gives you an instant overview of which dishes contain which allergens.

Ingredient Details

Click on any ingredient to open its detail view. Here you see everything ChinaYung knows about this product:

Nutrition Values

A table showing per-100g values for:

• Energy (kcal / kJ)
• Fat (total and saturated)
• Carbohydrates (total and sugars)
• Protein
• Salt
• Fiber

These values come from one of three sources, clearly labeled:

Verification Status

Each ingredient has one of three statuses:

• Verified — Allergen and nutrition data has been confirmed against the product label.
• Auto-verified — Natural products (e.g., fresh tomatoes, chicken breast) that use BLS reference values. No manual verification needed.
• Not verified — Data is present but has not been confirmed. Review recommended.

Tip: Prioritize verifying ingredients that appear in your most popular dishes. These have the highest impact on your allergen declarations.

Editing Allergens

You can update allergen flags for any ingredient at any time. Open the ingredient detail view and click Edit Allergens.

The allergen editor shows all 14 EU allergens as checkboxes. Check or uncheck as needed based on the current product label.

When to update allergens:

• A supplier has changed the product recipe (check the label on your next delivery).
• You discover an error in the original mapping.
• A new regulation adds or changes allergen categories.

After saving, ChinaYung automatically updates the allergen declarations for every dish that uses this ingredient. Your public menu page and chatbot reflect the changes immediately.

Tip: If a supplier changes a product recipe, the new label supersedes everything. Upload a fresh photo and update the allergens accordingly.

Product Photos

Each ingredient can have up to 3 photos attached. These serve as visual documentation and help verify allergen and nutrition data over time.

Uploading Photos

1. Open the ingredient detail view.
2. Click Photos (or scroll to the photo section).
3. Click Upload Photo and select an image from your device.
4. Supported formats: JPG, PNG, WebP.

Recommended photos:

• Front of packaging — Product name, brand, and weight clearly visible.
• Ingredient list — The full list of ingredients as printed on the label.
• Nutrition table — The per-100g nutrition values table.

Tip: Take photos when you receive a delivery. The label in front of you at that moment is the most reliable source. Waiting until later often means the packaging has been discarded.

Natural vs. Processed Products

ChinaYung distinguishes between two types of ingredients:

Natural Products

Items like fresh vegetables, fruits, raw meat, fish, eggs, flour, sugar, and spices. These do not have a manufacturer label with nutrition data printed on them.

For natural products, ChinaYung automatically assigns nutrition values from the BLS database (Bundeslebensmittelschluessel), a comprehensive reference database maintained by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. No EAN code or label photo is needed.

Natural products are marked as auto-verified — their data comes from a trusted scientific source.

Processed Products

Items with a manufacturer, brand, and printed label — sauces, canned goods, frozen products, pre-made mixes, beverages, etc.

For processed products, the product label is always the primary source of allergen and nutrition data. Upload a photo of the label during mapping or in the ingredient detail view. ChinaYung extracts the values and uses them for all calculations.

Tip: Never substitute BLS values for a processed product, and never substitute a label photo for a natural product. Each type has its correct data source, and mixing them up leads to inaccurate declarations.

Tips for Maintaining Your Catalog

• Review regularly. Set a reminder to check your ingredient catalog once a month. Look for unverified items and outdated photos.
• Keep photos current. Suppliers occasionally change packaging, recipes, or nutrition values. When you notice a change, upload a new label photo and update the data.
• Watch for substitutions. If you switch from one brand of soy sauce to another, map the new product separately — even if the name is similar, the allergen profile may differ.
• Use the verification filter. Filter for „Not verified“ ingredients and work through them in one session. A fully verified catalog means your allergen compliance is solid.
• GROWTH and PRO plans provide additional features including nutrition value editing, bulk photo uploads, and detailed change history for each ingredient.