Strategies

Nutrition Facts Panel (NFP) from your recipe:

• only as good as the accuracy of your recipe!
• need to account for cooking, either from your information or lab testing

(water losses, fat uptake, vitamin degradation)

• can be more accurate than lab testing of a product sample that is not a good representative of your product over time
• cheaper and faster than lab tests

NFP using lab tests:

• only as good as the quality of your sample! If you sample a non-standard production run, the difference will be captured
• more expensive longer turnaround
• seen as the "gold standard" by many and may be required by some retailers

Combination approach:

• very popular, it allows for troubleshooting when the lab and recipe are not in agreement
• cost effective way to confirm cooking changes in water or fat, or confirm fat content of a meat stock