Google announced that it is rolling out new nutrition information to search, as the latest addition to its Knowledge Graph. If you can’t already, you’ll soon be able to query things like “How much protein is in a banana?” or How many calories are in an avocado?” and get direct answers (spoken to you, if you’re using Google’s new conversational search).
Google will provide relevant nutrition info under an expansion, and will let you switch to other related foods or serving sizes.
“Tempted by some popcorn at the movies?” asks product manager Ilya Mezheritsky. “Ask ‘how many calories are in popcorn’ and you’ll get your answer. [Hint: it’s 31 calories per cup]. Perplexed by a food label or recipe? Ask ‘what nutrients are in breadfruit?’ or ‘is there sugar in grenadilla?’ Big on a high protein diet? Ask ‘how many carbs in corn?’ or simply search for [corn] and you’ll see detailed nutrition info.”
Suddenly it’s starting to seem like maybe Google shouldn’t have killed Google Health. Combined with this feature and Google Now, one could imagine some powerful dietary recommendations.
The feature will be rolling out in English in the U.S. over the course of the next ten days. Google will also be adding more foods and languages. It’s starting with over 1,000 foods.
In related news, Google has also introduced two new tools for webmasters to provide structured data to Google, which can then be used in Google offerings like the Knowledge Graph and Google Now.
