Food carbon footprint calculator
Compare the same mass of two foods using global-average emissions. Change either food or the grams to see the difference.
At 200 g each
Global-average comparison, not a product label.
Equal mass, not equal nutrition. Source: Poore & Nemecek (2018), via Our World in Data. Global means; 2010 reference year.
What the result means
Food mass in kilograms × the source emissions factor = kg CO2e. For 200 g of beef from a beef herd: 0.2 × 99.48 = 19.896 kg CO2e. For poultry: 0.2 × 9.87 = 1.974 kg CO2e.
The comparison is between product categories, not individual brands or farms. It is not a full diet assessment and does not establish nutritional equivalence or personal annual savings.
The 38 source factors
kg CO2e per kilogram of product. CO2e includes greenhouse gases expressed as carbon-dioxide equivalents.
38 foods
| Food | kg CO2e / kg |
|---|---|
| Apples | 0.43 |
| Bananas | 0.86 |
| Barley | 1.18 |
| Beef (beef herd) | 99.48 |
| Beef (dairy herd) | 33.30 |
| Beet Sugar | 1.81 |
| Berries & Grapes | 1.53 |
| Brassicas | 0.51 |
| Cane Sugar | 3.20 |
| Cassava | 1.32 |
| Cheese | 23.88 |
| Citrus Fruit | 0.39 |
| Coffee | 28.53 |
| Dark Chocolate | 46.65 |
| Eggs | 4.67 |
| Fish (farmed) | 13.63 |
| Groundnuts | 3.23 |
| Lamb & Mutton | 39.72 |
| Maize | 1.70 |
| Milk | 3.15 |
| Nuts | 0.43 |
| Oatmeal | 2.48 |
| Onions & Leeks | 0.50 |
| Other Fruit | 1.05 |
| Other Pulses | 1.79 |
| Other Vegetables | 0.53 |
| Peas | 0.98 |
| Pig Meat | 12.31 |
| Potatoes | 0.46 |
| Poultry Meat | 9.87 |
| Prawns (farmed) | 26.87 |
| Rice | 4.45 |
| Root Vegetables | 0.43 |
| Soy milk | 0.98 |
| Tofu | 3.16 |
| Tomatoes | 2.09 |
| Wheat & Rye | 1.57 |
| Wine | 1.79 |
Questions
Is this a serving or nutrition comparison?
No. Both foods use the same product mass. Equal grams are not equal calories, protein or nutrition.
Are these current product-label measurements?
No. These are global averages from the 2018 Poore and Nemecek study, processed by Our World in Data. The source reference year is 2010; farms and supply chains vary.
Does this calculate my annual food footprint?
No. It compares two quantities of food. It does not know your diet, household waste, cooking or shopping habits.
Why can the figures differ from another calculator?
Check the food category, geographic scope, study edition and unit. Per kilogram, per calorie and per serving are different comparisons.
Sources and citation
Poore and Nemecek (2018), Science, processed by Our World in Data. Dataset edition: 8 October 2019. Reference year: 2010. Source checked: 29 August 2026.
Cite the original authors and OWID for the factors; cite this calculator for the equal-mass calculation. PDF and Excel include source links and a link to reopen the comparison. Images include source attribution. Original third-party data retains its own rights; Inzonex does not relicense the source study.
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