I like the idea of a free database and the implementation.
I had used www.codecheck.info before, it's a similar database with a community. It started as a university project, though the community content is now owned by a company.
Open Food Facts – A free food products database
51–60 of 97 posts
Re: Open Food Facts – A free food products database
#52Interesting. Is there an API or download link? I am having trouble finding one if there is.
Yes, it's downloadable here as RDF and CSV, as a JSON API (read and write if you want to contribute): http://world.openfoodfacts.org/data There are also mobile apps for iOS, Android and Windows Phone to contribute to the base on the go, or check a product.
Is the data available for download in English? I can only find it in French?
Re: Open Food Facts – A free food products database
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apps track gas prices quite easily...
True. But there are only a few different types of gas, and in the US alone, there are 50000 new food products introduced on supermarket shelves every year: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/FoodMarketingSystem/new_pro... And there are also many more places that sell food than gas (proof is that places that sell gas almost always sell food too). But with enough motivated individuals, anything is possible, price trackin…
It is definitely doable. You don't need 100% coverage to be useful. A French company could do it (prixing.fr) although they don't currently. They allow you to scan a product barcode in your supermarket and compare it to their database to see if there is a cheaper alternative elsewhere. As baseline for their DB they scrap supermaket's online store and then complete/correct with what people scan with their mobile. Works really well in France because the market is somewhat concentrated an most of them have an online store.
Given that, they could probably track prices over time. I guess they probably do it internally and sale it on B2B basis.
Re: Open Food Facts – A free food products database
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, it's downloadable here as RDF and CSV, as a JSON API (read and write if you want to contribute): http://world.openfoodfacts.org/data There are also mobile apps for iOS, Android and Windows Phone to contribute to the base on the go, or check a product.
Is the data available for download in English? I can only find it in French?
The CSV file appears to mix English and French.
Re: Open Food Facts – A free food products database
#55Something else that would be quite useful is to include links to the international names of each product so that you can compare their ingredients.
For example, Kellogg's Frosted Flakes [1][2] are called Frosties in the UK, France [3] and some parts of Europe, but do not have identical ingredients.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frosted_Flakes
[2] http://world.openfoodfacts.org/product/038000219634/frosted-...
[3] http://world.openfoodfacts.org/product/5053827104081/frostie...
Re: Open Food Facts – A free food products database
#56Neat! I was thinking about an optimal design for a similar idea just the other day. Motivated by the lack of accountability by food producer/manufacturers - and lack of a venue for consumers to voice concerns.
This was a direct result of a jar of honey I had qualms about (and probably an aggregate of other concerns & thoughts that we all build up over time on topics like this).
I wrote the producer an email, but would much prefer voicing my opinion public - seems that would be a far more effective way to get the issue resolved.
Anyway, I gave it a go with this Open Food Facts site. Here's the product I added:
http://world.openfoodfacts.org/product/5220400060/raw-organi...
My first impression is that the interface is a tad cluttered.
Secondly, some of the categorization fields on the Add Product page are redundant.
Last & most importantly: my most desired use-case for this application is not actually accommodated for.
In addition to the detailed product info, which the site does a nice job of allowing me to enter, I want to be able to leave feedback about the product itself.
For example, with this particular jar of honey my main gripe was the film/plastic foil residue left on the outer rim of the jar when you first open it up. It's great that this product is in a glass jar, is 100% raw and organic - but when little chunks of plastic foil end up in my honey it totally invalidates those benefits.
Anyway, the feedback feature could be as simple as a comment thread below the page. And perhaps thinking a bit father out, ideally: an Amazon style review system.
Either way - love the progress so far, props for a great app already.
Re: Open Food Facts – A free food products database
#57Re: Open Food Facts – A free food products database
#58This is a fantastic idea. My only worry is that the owners will be legally hounded from every corner of the world due to the fact that most large food corporations don't really want you to know what's in their products. Like the fact that "orange juice" is basically rancid orange sugar water left sitting in large vats for up to a year that is doused with orange oil before sale, apparently. [0] I would get some legal…
Where are you getting that the orange juice goes rancid in storage? Evaporation and concentration is a way of preserving juice, not a way of destroying it. And vat is such a loaded term. Concentrate is stored in closed stainless steel tanks, just like every other liquid beverage, not some concrete trough.
Re: Open Food Facts – A free food products database
#59Great idea -- as a user of Musicbrainz, it's right up my alley. I went ahead and made some updates to a nutella http://world.openfoodfacts.org/product/009800895007 page, and it works as I'd expect. The Android app has problems, though. 1. The barcode scanner doesn't work, at least on the product I mentioned above. I tried it with the Barcode Scanner app, and it works fine there. 2. No barcode search. Since I used the…
It appears that the Android app is made with Cordova. I wonder if a lot of the problems are due to it not being a native Android app?
The UI also looks like an ancient iOS app which doesn't give a good first impression either.
Re: Open Food Facts – A free food products database
#60Made a "quick" graph of which brands have the most carbohydrates (for food products that aren't just sugar).
Kind of neat, but I've never heard of a lot of the brands. (Most of the data is from France, turns out.)
