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For a more in-depth guide to farming and producing food, see Food production.

For information on hunger, see Saturation.

Food is the basic source of nutrition to both humans and animals. Consuming food provides saturation. Deprivation of food leads to malnutrition and, if prolonged, death.

Raw food

For a list of raw food items, see Raw food.

Food found in its natural stage is raw, fruits can be consumed without cooking but vegetables and meat will taste better for the colonist when prepared. Raws can still be consumed without being heated but causes the Ate raw food thought with a -7 mood penalty. Eating raw food restores 0.05 saturation each. Foods cooked at an electric stove, fueled stove or campfire turn into meals, later on it can be processed at the nutrient paste dispenser as well.

Raw food can be obtained from a variety of sources:

Wild bushes can be harvested to give agave and berries.
Growing zones can be used to plant rice, potatoes, corn, strawberries and haygrass (for domesticated animals).
- Hydroponics basins can also be used to plant rice, potatoes or strawberries, and grows them at a considerably increased rate.
Meat is obtained from fresh non-mechanoid corpses, whether hunted or if they died via other means. Corpses may be eaten raw or butchered at a butcher table.
Occasional drops from cargo pods.

Degradation

As of version 0.15.1279 (29 August 2016) there is a message telling you when food has spoiled.

Food will be destroyed if left unattended (except for beer) by two factors: exposure and temperature.

Items dropped in an area without a roof will deteriorate.

Storing food in temperatures above 0 °C (32 °F) will spoil over time. Temperatures below 10 °C (50 °F) will slow down spoiling by a factor of 1/temp in Celsius. See Temperature for details.
- In the early game, food spoilage can pose a threat if located on warm biomes. A freezer room can be created by placing enough coolers in proportion to its size - the bigger the storage, the more coolers required.

Note that spoiling food and item deterioration are separate mechanics. For example: a raider is killed and drops a fine meal outdoors when the temperature is below freezing. That meal will still deteriorate, and eventually disappear when its HP reaches 0, even though it will get no closer to spoiling. Conversely, a meal stored inside a stockpile at room temperature will spoil rather than deteriorating.

Once spoiled, food will vanish and can never be recovered. However, food can be eaten at any stage before spoiling with no negative effect. Food poisoning comes from other sources, such as a messy kitchen or unskilled cook.

Comparison table

Name	Nutrition	Taste	Deterioration rate (per day)	Days to Rot
Vegetarian lavish meal	1	Lavish	10	4
Carnivore lavish meal	1	Lavish	10	4
Lavish meal	1	Lavish	10	4
Vegetarian fine meal	0.9	Fine	10	4
Packaged survival meal	0.9	Simple	0.25
Fine meal	0.9	Fine	10	4
Nutrient paste meal	0.9	Awful	10	0.75
Simple meal	0.9	Simple	10	4
Carnivore fine meal	0.9	Fine	10	4
Ostrich egg (fert.)	0.6	Raw	2	15
Cassowary egg (fert.)	0.5	Raw	2	15
Goose egg (unfert.)	0.5	Raw	2	15
Emu egg (fert.)	0.5	Raw	2	15
Goose egg (fert.)	0.5	Raw	2	15
Turkey egg (fert.)	0.5	Raw	2	15
Chicken egg (fert.)	0.25	Raw	2	15
Duck egg (unfert.)	0.25	Raw	10	15
Tortoise egg (fert.)	0.25	Raw	2	15
Duck egg (fert.)	0.25	Raw	2	15
Iguana egg (fert.)	0.25	Raw	2	15
Cobra egg (fert.)	0.25	Raw	2	15
Chicken egg (unfert.)	0.25	Raw	2	15
Hemogen pack	0.1		5
Chocolate	0.1	Fine	8
Human meat	0.05	Raw	6	2
Pemmican	0.05	Simple	2	70
Rice	0.05	Raw	6	40
Meat	0.05	Raw	6	2
Toxipotatoes	0.05	Raw	6	60
Raw fungus	0.05	Raw		40
Berries	0.05	Simple	6	14
Potatoes	0.05	Raw	6	30
Hay	0.05		6	60
Milk	0.05	Raw	10	14
Agave fruit	0.05	Raw	6	25
Baby food	0.05	Terrible		14
Insect jelly	0.05	Fine	6
Insect meat	0.05	Raw	6	2
Corn	0.05	Raw	6	60
Twisted meat	0.05	Raw	6	2
Kibble	0.05	Raw	6