What Does the Symbol for Calories Mean?
                                
                                
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                                    3 min read                                
                            
                                In nutrition, a 'calorie' often refers to a kilocalorie (kcal), which is 1,000 times larger than the scientific 'small' calorie (cal). This difference explains why the energy content of food is a measure of thousands of 'small' calories, but is simply labeled 'Calories'.