Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: OpenNutrition – A free, public nutrition database

opennutrition.app

151–160 of 160 posts

Re: Show HN: OpenNutrition – A free, public nutrition database

#151
post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The two you cite, OpenFoodFacts and OpenStreetMap are non-profit/not-for-profit, known for their databases, not for competing commercial apps. I appreciate the difficulty of building a good database. Can you say why you created a new one, rather than starting with OpenFoodFacts? (Was it quality issues? Too hard to update? You wanted additional info? You didn't want their licensing terms? You wanted the advertising bo…

I've explained why OFF is not an adequate source in and of itself for a food logging app elsewhere in the thread. If it were usable in and of itself, I wouldn't have had anything to build on the database front and would have just used it as-is. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43570775

Thanks, that part makes sense.

Re: Show HN: OpenNutrition – A free, public nutrition database

#152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not complaining by the way, it was more of a feature request, for example when you hover over an ingredient (e.g. "Choline", "Tryptophan", etc.), it may display a somewhat concise description of that ingredient (e.g. "Tryptophan is ..."). It is fine as it is either way, all things considered.

Ah that's a good idea, should add that. Also I appreciate your phrasing of "you guys" when, as a solo developer, if someone thinks your efforts are the product of a larger team, it's always appreciated :)

Yeah I thought more people worked on it, it looks good. :P

Keep it as accurate as possible, and maintainable, and then it will be easy to add larger features. If no one else does, I might add a calorie tracker of some sort, it would be helpful to my mom. It is helpful as it is even now. How difficult would it be to add translations right now? She might look for "tojás" which is "egg" in Hungarian, and I would like her to be able to do that at some point.

Re: Show HN: OpenNutrition – A free, public nutrition database

#154
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't matter how accurate the models are, it's not a "data set" (in the scientific sense), it's more of a conclusion set. Maybe the conclusions are spot on. Maybe not. I have no idea.

I envisioned many lines of inquiry from HN but the idea that a compressed TSV of nutritional data is not a "dataset" (definition: a collection of related sets of information that is composed of separate elements but can be manipulated as a unit by a computer) was unexpected.

The problem is that it’s _not_ simply data. Definition: is information collected from the world.

This is data from the world that has altered and augmented with stuff from a model. The informational content has been altered by stuff not from the world. Therefore it’s no longer data, according to the above definition.

That isn’t to say that it can’t be useful, or anything like that. But it’s _not_ information collected from the world. And that’s why people who care about science and a strict definition of data would be offended by calling this a dataset.

Re: Show HN: OpenNutrition – A free, public nutrition database

#155
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

It doesn't matter how accurate the models are, it's not a "data set" (in the scientific sense), it's more of a conclusion set. Maybe the conclusions are spot on. Maybe not. I have no idea.

I think there is a real conversation to be had about “data” in a post LMM world, but I actually don’t care about debating definitions here, I care about whether the product works within a reasonable margin of error.

Re: Show HN: OpenNutrition – A free, public nutrition database

#157
If you’re into open food datasets, OpenNutrition is worth a look — it’s not as big as Open Food Facts, but the data is cleaner and more focused. This breakdown helped me get a sense of what it offers:

https://thedatabasesearch.com/trade_ad/opennutrition-food-da...

Re: Show HN: OpenNutrition – A free, public nutrition database

#158
post #10

As this seems US focused, I'll share an alternative that works really well with European products (and a lot of US ones too, apparently): https://yuka.io/en/ Really easy to use (just scan the barcode and you get easily digested data about the product) has every product imaginable, also analyzes cosmetics and best of all, all the basic functionality is free. Not affiliated, been using it for years at this point and no…

Love Yuka - phenomenal app.

Re: Show HN: OpenNutrition – A free, public nutrition database

#160

LLM generated nutrition for accuracy. The first item I manually look up is has about double calories listed in the "dataset" versus reality. Honey bunches of oats honey roasted.

Both products show a 1 cup (41g) and 160 calorie serving size to me? OpenNutrition: https://www.opennutrition.app/search/honey-bunches-of-oats-h... Via Manufacturer: https://www.honeybunchesofoats.com/product/honey-bunches-of-... If you wouldn't mind DM'ing me the barcode you're looking at that would be helpful to understand what the nature of the discrepancy is.

so the dataset published is different from the data on the website.

line 13669: fd_AX4PUMF1h0RU Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted by Post ["Post Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted Cereal"] Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted is a popular breakfast cereal combining crispy whole grain flakes with clusters of honey-roasted oats. This Post cereal features a distinctive mix of textures and a sweet honey flavor profile, created through a specialized roasting process. While providing some dietary fiber, it contains a relatively high sugar content typical of sweetened breakfast cereals, with honey-roasted clusters being its signature component. grocery [] {"common":{"unit":"cup","quantity":1},"metric":{"unit":"g","quantity":41}} {"iron":39.5,"zinc":3.66,"water":3.6585,"biotin":4.878,"copper":0.4878,"iodine":4.878,"lysine":0.3902,"niacin":19.5,"serine":0.3171,"sodium":463,"valine":0.5366,"alanine":0.3171,"calcium":24,"choline":12.1951,"cystine":0.0976,"glycine":0.2195,"leucine":0.6341,"omega_3":0,"omega_6":0,"omega_9":2.44,"proline":0.4146,"protein":7.32,"taurine":0,"thiamin":1,"xylitol":0,"arginine":0.4146,"caffeine":0,"calories":390,"chlorine":0,"chromium":2.439,"cysteine":0.0976,"selenium":12.1951,"sorbitol":0,"tyrosine":0.2195,"histidine":0.2195,"magnesium":59,"manganese":0.7317,"potassium":146,"threonine":0.3171,"total_fat":4.88,"vitamin_a":243.9024,"vitamin_c":0,"vitamin_d":5,"vitamin_e":1.2195,"vitamin_k":0.4878,"folate_dfe":243.9024,"isoleucine":0.4146,"methionine":0.122,"molybdenum":7.3171,"oleic_acid":2.44,"phosphorus":146,"riboflavin":1.24,"trans_fats":0,"tryptophan":0.0976,"vitamin_b6":1.95,"capric_acid":0,"cholesterol":0,"erucic_acid":0,"lauric_acid":0,"vitamin_b12":14.6,"added_sugars":19.5,"stearic_acid":0,"total_sugars":22,"aspartic_acid":0.6341,"caprylic_acid":0,"carbohydrates":82.9,"dietary_fiber":4.9,"ethyl_alcohol":0,"glutamic_acid":1.4634,"linoleic_acid":0,"myristic_acid":0,"palmitic_acid":0,"phenylalanine":0.4146,"soluble_fiber":1.2195,"linolenic_acid":0,"saturated_fats":0,"sugar_alcohols":0,"eicosenoic_acid":0,"insoluble_fiber":3.6805,"arachidonic_acid":0,"pantothenic_acid":1.2195,"other_carbohydrates":0,"alpha_linolenic_acid":0,"docosahexaenoic_acid":0,"gamma_linolenic_acid":0,"monounsaturated_fats":2.44,"polyunsaturated_fats":0,"docosapentaenoic_acid":0,"eicosapentaenoic_acid":0,"dihomo_gamma_linolenic_acid":0} 0884912359155 ["sweetened"] {"common":{"unit":"oz","quantity":12},"metric":{"unit":"g","quantity":340}} Corn, whole grain wheat, sugar, whole grain rolled oats, rice, canola and/or soybean oil, wheat flour, malted barley flour, corn syrup, salt, molasses, honey, caramel color, barley malt extract, natural and artificial flavor, annatto extract (color), bht added to preserve freshness, vitamins and minerals: reduced iron, niacinamide (vitamin b3), vitamin a palmitate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin b6), zinc oxide, thiamin mononitrate (vitamin b1), riboflavin (vitamin b2), folic acid, vitamin d3, vitamin b12 {"gluten":["wheat","barley","malt"],"food_dyes":["caramel color","annatto"],"added_sugars":["sugar","corn syrup"],"allergen_wheat":["wheat"],"allergen_soybeans":["soybean"],"artificial_flavors":["artificial flavor"],"artificial_preservatives":["bht"]}

Post reply on HN