FAQs

FAQ

Some answers to frequently asked questions. If your question and its answer are not in this FAQ , you can send it by e -mail at contact@openfoodfacts.org or put through / ideas Forum .

Information products are checked?

The information is entered by Open Food Facts contributors. The contributors also send pictures of the packaging, the list of ingredients and nutritional composition table. If in doubt, visitors can see for themselves the information, and if an error is found, they can correct themselves.

To more easily identify potential errors, we gradually add automatic checks : if the composition of a product is very different from other products in the same category, it can be a mistake . If the sum of protein, carbohydrate and fat is more than 100g, this is certainly a mistake.

Can I add product photos or information from the website of the manufacturer, shopping sites or other online sites?

Almost all of the other sites prohibit reproduction and reuse of their data, and this is also why we created Open Food Facts: to make the data available for all and for all purposes.

To avoid problems with rights, we ask contributors to add only photos they have taken themselves , and extract information from the product packaging.

See: Why can not we get the information and pictures of products from other sites? On the Ideas Forum .

I am a manufacturer/producer of food , can I add my own products ?

Absolutely! The only condition is to accept that the information and especially the pictures are placed under an open license . (see contribution conditions for contribution )

If you have a large number of products to add (over 50) , we can try to automatically add products and information. Contact us so that we can see how: contact@openfoodfacts.org

What is the difference with other web sites, mobile applications and services that already offer view information on food products ?

The main difference is our open data licence, which we consider essential:

Almost all of the other sites, applications and services do not allow the free reproduction and reuse of their data. They often jealously guard instead. In almost all cases, their conditions specifically prohibit any non- personal use and any extraction of some or all of the data.

We believe that the information on food products are too important and useful to keep them locked in a safe . We decided to do exactly the opposite: we not only allow, but also encourage the reproduction and reuse of our database, freely, for all and for any purpose, including commercial use.

Open data allows individuals, organizations, businesses, researchers, and the world to imagine and build applications using them that we would probably never thought of.

What is the business model of Open Food Facts ?

Contributors are unpaid volunteers. Their contributions are collected in an open database, which can be reused by all and for all purposes . (see reuse conditions)

All persons who so wish (including contributors and the Open Food Facts creator) can therefore redistribute it and/or reuse data to build such sites, services, software, mobile applications, or write items or conducting studies they are free to provide free, sell or monetize such as displaying advertisements .

Where can I download the data?

See this page: fr.openfoodfacts.org/data

Do you have any other questions? Let us know! fr:FAQ