The Open Food Facts platform offers everyone the possibility to enter data and verify the nutritional profiles – through the Nutri-Score system – of all food products distributed in 150 countries.
The largest available database on the nutritional quality of foods on the shelf, already includes 3,6 million products and is continuously developing thanks to the commitment of thousands of volunteers around the world. (1)
1) Open Food Facts, a collaborative project
Open Food Facts is a non-profit collaborative project initiated by Stéphane Gigandet, creator of the food blogging portals Recettes de Cuisine (in French) and Very Good Recipes, as well as various other collaborative and/or food-related projects (i.e. Manger Bloguer and Informations Nutritionnelles, in French). Stéphane still manages the technical architecture of Open Food Facts, its development, the hosting of the site and its gigantic database.
The collaborators of the Open Food Facts project are people passionate about food, nutrition and health. Over 100.000 volunteers around the world – thanks to the Open Food Facts app, available on Google Play (for Android) and App Store (Apple) – add data on individual food products for sale (online and offline). Thus allowing the platform to elaborate the nutritional profiles of each product, and other useful information (i.e. food additives).
2) ‘Crowdsourcing’ and ‘open data’
This system of ‘crowdsourcing’ is used to feed the database, in a ‘from everyone for everyone’ logic. Open Food Facts is in fact an ‘open data’ platform at the service of the entire community:
a) the citizens can draw concrete information on the nutritional quality of individual food products on sale. And thus distinguish
– the most balanced products, within the various product categories (e.g. extra virgin olive oil, compared to soy oil); (2)
– the role of the various categories of food in the diet (i.e. sugary drinks, letter E, to be consumed rarely and in minimal quantities); (3)
b) producers and retailers, thanks to the spread of apps like Yuka and Open Food Facts, they are encouraged to reformulate products to improve their nutritional profiles and Nutri-Score scores. (4) Even in countries like Italy, where the logo is not yet present on labels, as we have seen (5,6);
c) researchers and institutions can analyze the nutritional quality of the food supply, and thus nutritional security (overall and by product category), and its evolution over time. Also in view of prospective studies and the adoption of targeted nutritional policies.
3) Nutri-Score, the needle on the scale
Nutri-Score, the great protagonist of the Open Food Facts database, allows consumers to grasp at a glance the nutritional quality of individual food products. Thanks to their classification on a scale composed of five colors (from dark green to intense orange), which correspond to five letters (from A to E). (7)
The Nutri-Score is attributed to individual foods by applying an algorithm that identifies their nutritional profiles. This algorithm – developed by the EREN research group, at the Sorbonne University in Paris, based on the ‘Nutrient Profiling System’ of the FSA (Food Standard Agency, UK) – has recently been updated in light of dietary guidelines. (8)
4) Open Food Facts, let’s all participate!
The non-profit initiative of a single enthusiast like Stéphane Gigandet has already involved 100.000 volunteers in 150 countries around the world, united by a desire to share information on the nutritional quality of foods that are often unavailable on their labels.
Knowledge is the basis for improving population diets and thus the health and well-being of individuals. And consumer demand can influence the supply of more nutritionally balanced products, as we have demonstrated in Italy in the case of palm oil. (9)
Let’s all join this collective effort, by scanning barcodes and uploading photos of the labels of products we have at home or find on the shelf, through the dedicated app for Android, iPhone or Windows. The more products are present on Open Food Facts, the more difficult it will be to mask their nutritional quality.
#Égalité
Dario Dongo
Footnotes
(1) Open Food Facts https://fr.openfoodfacts.org/
(2) See paragraph 2.3 (Vegetable oils) in the previous article by Dario Dongo. NutriScore, evolution of the algorithm on a scientific basis. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 1.8.22
(3) Dario Dongo. Sugary drinks, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. FT (Food Times). January 11, 2025
(4) Dario Dongo. Nutri-Score in supermarkets and product reformulation. FT (Food Times). January 4, 2025
(5) Dario Dongo. Bread packaged according to Esselunga. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 16.2.23
(6) Marta Strinati. Yuka stimulates food reformulation and works on the eco-score. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 16.8.22
(7) Dario Dongo. NutriScore, we help consumers choose balanced foods! Petition. (Food Times). October 8, 2022 NutriScore, we help consumers choose balanced foods! Petition
(8) See the article cited in note 2 and that of Dario Dongo. NutriScore, Algorithm Update for Beverages. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 25.4.23
(9) Dario Dongo. Palm oil in foods, where it is found and how to avoid it. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 8.10.20
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
