Open Food Facts API

Open Food Facts API Skill

This skill provides access to the Open Food Facts database - a global, crowd-sourced food products database with strong European coverage.

Key Features

• Global coverage: Products from 150+ countries, with strong European presence
• No API key required: Free to use for basic queries
• Barcode lookup: Look up products by EAN/UPC barcode
• Multi-language support: Product data available in many languages
• Real-time data: Community-maintained with frequent updates

Important Limitations

Packaged Products Only: Open Food Facts only contains products with barcodes (EAN/UPC). This means:

• ✅ Packaged foods: soft drinks, chocolate, bread, frozen meals, etc.
• ❌ Fresh produce without packaging: meat from the butcher, loose vegetables, fresh seafood
• ❌ Generic ingredients: "apples", "chicken breast", "rice" (unless packaged by a brand)

Data Quality: Since this is crowd-sourced data, accuracy and completeness vary by product. Some products may have incomplete nutritional information.

Rate Limits:

• 100 requests/minute for product lookups (by barcode)
• 10 requests/minute for search queries
• No limits on write operations (contributing data)

Geographic Bias: While global, coverage is strongest in Europe (especially France, where the project started) and North America.

API Usage

All API requests are made to https://world.openfoodfacts.org/api/v2.

Commands

Search Products

Search for food products by name or keyword.

Usage:

./skills/openfoodfacts/scripts/off_search.sh "search query" [page_size]

Parameters:

• search query (required): Keywords to search for (e.g., "chocolate bar")
• page_size (optional): Number of results (1-100, default: 10)

Example:

./skills/openfoodfacts/scripts/off_search.sh "chocolate bar"
./skills/openfoodfacts/scripts/off_search.sh "oat milk" 20

Response Format: Returns a formatted table with:

• Product name
• Barcode
• Brand

Get Product by Barcode

Retrieve detailed product information including full nutritional data using a barcode (EAN/UPC).

Usage:

./skills/openfoodfacts/scripts/off_product.sh 

Parameters:

• barcode (required): The EAN-13 or UPC barcode number (usually 8-13 digits)

Example:

./skills/openfoodfacts/scripts/off_product.sh 5000159325954
./skills/openfoodfacts/scripts/off_product.sh 7622210449283

Response Format: Returns formatted output with:

• Product name and brand
• Packaging and quantity
• Nutritional information per 100g
• Ingredients (when available)
• Allergens and labels
• Nutri-Score (if available)
• NOVA group (food processing classification)

Finding Barcodes

Barcodes (EAN-13, UPC) are typically found:

• On the product packaging, below the barcode lines
• On receipts or invoices
• In grocery store apps after scanning
• On product websites

Barcodes are numeric and usually 8-13 digits long.

Error Handling

Common errors:

• Product not found: Barcode doesn't exist in database
• Rate limit exceeded: Too many requests - wait before retrying
• Malformed barcode: Barcode format is invalid

Workflow Examples

Example 1: Find nutrition for a packaged product

1. Find the barcode on the product packaging (12-13 digit number below the barcode lines)
2. Lookup the product: ./skills/openfoodfacts/scripts/off_product.sh 5000159325954

Example 2: Search for a product type

1. Search by name: ./skills/openfoodfacts/scripts/off_search.sh "dark chocolate"
2. Note the barcode from results
3. Get full details: ./skills/openfoodfacts/scripts/off_product.sh

Nutri-Score Reference

Products may include a Nutri-Score grade:

• A (dark green): Best nutritional quality
• B (light green): Good nutritional quality
• C (yellow): Average nutritional quality
• D (orange): Poor nutritional quality
• E (red): Worst nutritional quality

NOVA Classification

Indicates level of food processing:

• Group 1: Unprocessed/minimally processed foods
• Group 2: Processed culinary ingredients
• Group 3: Processed foods
• Group 4: Ultra-processed foods

Notes

• Results are formatted for readability (no raw JSON dumps)
• Nutritional values are typically per 100g or per serving
• Ingredients may be listed in multiple languages
• Some products have photos available via the website