Open Food Facts

Open Food Facts

Logo since 2022
Type of site	Collaborative database
Available in	Multilingual
URL	openfoodfacts.org
Commercial	No
Registration	Optional, but is required to contribute from web
Launched	19 May 2012
Current status	Operating
Content license	Open Database Licence Database Contents License Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike 3.0 (product pictures)
Written in	Perl (Web version), Kotlin (New Android version), Swift (New iOS version), HTML/CSS/JS (Web and current mobile version)

Open Food Facts is a free, online and crowdsourced database of food products from around the world^[1] licensed under the Open Database License (ODBL)^[2] while its artwork—uploaded by contributors—is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution–Share Alike license.^[3]

The project was launched on 19 May 2012 by French programmer Stéphane Gigandet^[4] during the Food Revolution Day organized by Jamie Oliver^[5] and has won the 2013 Dataconnexions Award from Etalab^[6] and the 2015 OKFN Award from Open Knowledge.^[7]

In May 2016, its database contained more than 80,000 products from 141 countries.^[8] In June 2017, due to the growing ecosystem of apps and open data imports from various countries, this number rose to 880,000.^[9] In October 2019 OFF passed the 1,000,000 products milestone.^[10] By the 10th anniversary in May 2022, the database contained 2.3 million products from 182 countries.^[11]

Overview

Stéphane Gigandet presenting the project in October 2012 at the Open World Forum

The project gathers information and data on food products from around the world.^[1]

For each item, the database stores its generic name, quantity, type of packaging, brand, category, manufacturing or processing locations, countries and stores where the product is sold, list of ingredients, any traces (for allergies, dietary laws or any specific diet), food additives and nutritional information. The nutritional value is calculated using the Nutri-Score.^[12]

Each contributor can add or edit food items based on the information explicitly shown on the package.^[13] As a result, the GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) embedded in the barcode on the packaging of the product (when available) is generally used as the identifier.^[14] Mobile phone applications allow for capturing photos and information that are reprocessed manually by volunteers.

Due to similar mechanisms for modification, extension, or deletion of content and structure, the project is sometimes compared to Wikipedia in the media.^[5][15]

Reuses

The data is reused by various projects on issues related to palm oil, sugar, and location of the producers.^[16]

The Open Food Facts app

Open Food Facts made an app for IOS and Android. The app allows for the contributors to quickly add products on the site (by photographing them and complete some product information). It can be used to scan the barcode of food products and directly see the nutri-score and the eco-score. It is also easy to compare different food products based on their ingredients.^[17]

Open Food Fact Days

The Open Food Facts Days is an annual event where contributors can brainstorm. There are also a number of workshops.^[18]

See also

• Farm-to-table
• Information activism
• Right to know

References

1. "The Open Food Facts Team". openfoodfacts.org. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
2. B.Gans (11 March 2013). Data Publica (ed.). "Interview des fondateurs de Openfoodfacts.org et Product-Open-Data.com". data-publica.com. Archived from the original on 15 March 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
3. "Conditions d'utilisation, de contribution et de réutilisation". openfoodfacts.org. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
4. Belot, Laure (15 April 2013). "Alimentation : face aux doutes, les internautes s'organisent". Le Monde. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
5. Parfait, Audrey (22 May 2012). "Open Food Facts, nouveau site d'informations alimentaires". L'Express (in French). Retrieved 2 January 2023. Sur le modèle de l'encyclopédie en ligne Wikipedia, Open Food Facts est fondé sur la collaboration des utilisateurs.
6. "Dataconnexions #4 : Découvrez les huit lauréats de cette édition!". Le blog de la mission Etalab (in French). 4 January 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
7. "Winners of the OKFN award to open knowledge, open data and transparency". OKFN Spain. 22 February 2015. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
8. Gigandet, Stéphane (19 May 2016). "Open Food Facts turns 4, 83K food products in open data!". Open Food Facts blog. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
9. "Search results - World".
10. Gigandet, Stéphane (2019-10-25). "1 million products and 1 million thanks to all Open Food Facts contributors!". Open Food Facts. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
11. "Open Food Facts turns 10 !". openfoodfacts.org. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
12. "Compare the nutrition quality of food products with the Nutri-Score!". world.openfoodfacts.org. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
13. "Mieux connaître ce que nous mangeons". ile-reunion.pressecologie.com. 3 July 2012. Archived from the original on 25 October 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013. Les étiquettes et autres emballages de nos aliments fourmillent d'informations : nature des produits, quantité, origine, ingrédients, à cela s'ajoutent les allergènes, les tableaux affichant la composition nutritionnelle, sans oublier les labels en tous genres, ou encore l'empreinte carbone.
14. "Dans l'ESS, l'ouverture des données a bien commencé : focus sur trois projets passionnants". lelabo-ess.org. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
15. "Open Food Facts, le wikipédia des aliments". savoirscom1.info. 26 April 2013. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
16. List of reuses Data.gouv.fr
17. ""Instal the Open Food Facts mobile app"". Retrieved 9 October 2022.
18. ""Open Food Facts Days"". Retrieved 9 October 2022.

External links

Media related to Open Food Facts at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Open Food Facts team wiki (in English)
• blog.openfoodfacts.org (in English)