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Become an Open Food Facts patron

Every month, we serve 8 million visitors, and many times that through the API. Your support is essential to:

  • keep Open Food Facts open & available to all,
    • support infrastructure, the website, mobile app and API with a small permanent team

  • remain independent of the food industry,

  • support the community

  • support science

If every visitor this month clicked on Donate and gave just 1€, we'd get over 8 times our yearly budget!

Scientific Publications

Open Food Facts in research: publications, citations, and resources for researchers

Since 2012, Open Food Facts has become a valuable resource for researchers worldwide who use our food data for studies on nutrition, environment, public health, and many other fields. Our open database has been cited in hundreds of scientific papers.

For Researchers

Are you using or considering using Open Food Facts as part of a research project?

Please let us know at contact@openfoodfacts.org

We're happy to help and engage with research teams to see how we can support your work.

Publications Citing Open Food Facts

Explore scientific articles that reference our database

Open Food Facts has been cited in over 600 scientific papers. Below are links to browse publications that cite Open Food Facts and related projects:

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Key Research Areas

Our data supports diverse research domains

Nutrition & Public Health

Researchers use our database to study nutritional quality, food composition, and public health interventions. Open Food Facts data has been instrumental in Nutri-Score research and evaluation.

Environmental Impact

Studies on carbon footprint, Eco-Score, and environmental sustainability of food products benefit from our comprehensive database of product information.

Food Processing

Research on ultra-processed foods using the NOVA classification relies on our detailed ingredient lists and processing information.

Computer Science & AI

Machine learning, image recognition, natural language processing, and data science projects leverage our open datasets and images.

Consumer Behavior

Studies examining food choices, labeling effects, and transparency in the food industry use Open Food Facts data.

Food Policy

Policy makers and researchers analyze food regulations, labeling requirements, and industry practices using our transparent database.

Resources for Researchers

How to use and cite Open Food Facts

Accessing the Data

Open Food Facts provides multiple ways to access our data:

  • Database exports: Download complete database dumps in various formats. See our Data page for details.
  • API: Query our database programmatically via our comprehensive API. API Documentation
  • Search interface: Explore products directly on our website with advanced search and filtering capabilities.

Citing Open Food Facts

If you use Open Food Facts in your research, please cite it appropriately. Here's a suggested citation format:

Website citation:

Open Food Facts. (Year). Open Food Facts - World. Retrieved from https://world.openfoodfacts.org


Dataset citation:

Open Food Facts. (Year). Open Food Facts Database [Data set]. Retrieved from https://world.openfoodfacts.org/data

Licensing

Our data is open and freely reusable:

See our Terms and conditions of use and re-use for complete details.

Data Quality

As a crowdsourced database, data quality can vary. When using Open Food Facts for research:

  • Consider filtering by completeness scores or data quality indicators
  • Validate critical data points if precision is essential
  • Be aware of geographical and temporal biases in our data coverage
  • Contact us if you need help with data quality assessment for your research

Collaborate with Us

We welcome collaboration with research teams:

  • Data needs: Let us know if you need specific data or improvements to our database structure
  • Scan parties: Organize targeted data collection campaigns for your research region or product category
  • Results sharing: Share your findings with our community and help advance knowledge
  • Tool development: Collaborate on tools that benefit both researchers and consumers

Contact us at contact@openfoodfacts.org to discuss collaboration opportunities.

Research Impact

Open Food Facts has made significant contributions to scientific research and public health:

  • Over 600 scientific publications have cited our database
  • Major research teams including EREN (France), USP (Brazil), and University of Liège (Belgium) have used our data
  • Our database has supported research leading to policy changes and public health recommendations
  • We've enabled cross-country comparisons and global studies on food quality and nutrition

Stay Connected

Webinars for Scientists

We host webinars for researchers in French and English to discuss Open Food Facts and its applications in research.

Register (English) Register (French)

Open Food Facts: Science-based, and helping Science since 2012