# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of corn flakes per kg?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/corn-flakes-carbon-footprint-per-kg

Add the maize grits, sugar and malt per kg with supplier figures. Then add cooking, flaking and toasting energy, a large plant energy use, plus packing, and divide the plant's energy by kg of flakes packed.

## Ingredients

- Maize grits by weight.
- Sugar, malt, salt and vitamins.
- Liner bags and cartons.

## Process

- Steam cooking of grits.
- Drying, flaking rolls and toasting ovens.
- Coating and packing.

## Per kg

Report per kg by product. Cartons are a real share for cereals, so list them separately.

## Worked example: corn flakes unit per kg (one month)

- Electricity: 40,000 kWh x 0.710 = 28,400 kg CO2
- PNG: 15,000 SCM x 2.05 = 30,750 kg CO2
- Flakes packed (kg): 200,000
- Plant total: 59,150 / 200,000 = 0.296 kg CO2 per kg
- Add grits, sugar and cartons for the full figure

Inputs are illustrative; use your own bills and production records.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads the plant's electricity bills (CEA grid factor 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh, CO2 Baseline Database version 21.0) and fuel invoices (IPCC 2006 defaults) into a fingerprinted Scope 1 and 2 record, the plant-level input to a per-unit figure. Bought-in materials go to the supplier evidence trail; product reports are self-declared drafts.

- [Product carbon footprint calculator](https://senseible.earth/calculators/product-carbon-footprint)
- [Biscuit footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/biscuit-carbon-footprint-per-kg)
- [Flour mill footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/flour-mill-carbon-footprint-per-tonne)
- [Food processing industry](https://senseible.earth/industries/food-processing)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Product Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/standards), [ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products (iso.org)](https://www.iso.org), [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults)](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol2.html), [CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 21.0](https://cea.nic.in/cdm-co2-baseline-database/?lang=en)

Last reviewed 2026-10-20.