La caloría (símbolo cal) es una unidad de energía del Sistema Técnico de Unidades, basada en el calor específico del agua. Aunque en el uso científico y técnico actuales la unidad de energía es el julio (del Sistema Internacional de Unidades), todavía se utiliza la caloría para expresar el poder energético de los alimentos. La caloría fue definida por primera vez por el profesor Nicolas Clément en 1824 como una caloría-kilogramo y así se introdujo en los diccionarios franceses e ingleses durante el periodo que va entre 1842 y 1867.

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Calories are units of energy. Various exist but fall into two broad categories. \n* The small calorie or gram calorie (symbol: cal) is the approximate amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius at a pressure of one atmosphere. \n* The large calorie or kilogram calorie (symbol: Cal), also known as the food calorie and similar names, is defined in terms of the kilogram rather than the gram. It is equal to 1000 small calories, 1 kilocalorie (symbol: kcal). Although these units are part of the metric system, they have been superseded in the International System of Units by the joule. One small calorie is approximately 4.2 joules (so one large calorie is about 4.2 kilojoules). The factor used to convert calories to joules at a given temperature is numerically equivalent to the specific heat capacity of water expressed in joules per kelvin per gram or per kilogram. The precise conversion factor depends on the definition adopted. In spite of its non-official status, the large calorie is still widely used as a unit of food energy. The small calorie is also often used for measurements in chemistry, although the amounts involved are typically recorded in kilocalories. The calorie was first defined by Nicolas Clément in 1824 as a unit of heat energy, and entered French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. The word comes from Latin calor meaning "heat".

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