PART 1: README.md

Openfoodfacts Category Scraper

The Openfoodfacts Category Scraper is an Apify Actor designed to extract detailed product information from Open Food Facts, a comprehensive database of food products worldwide. It allows users to search for products by category keywords and retrieve structured data including nutritional scores, allergens, dietary information, and more. This tool is ideal for researchers, businesses, and developers needing reliable, open-source food data for analysis, monitoring, or integration into applications.

Features

• Comprehensive Data Extraction: Scrapes key product details such as ID, name, URL, image, barcode, and scores (Nutri-Score, Eco-Score, NOVA).
• Allergen and Dietary Insights: Provides detailed information on allergens (e.g., gluten, milk, nuts) and dietary suitability (vegan, vegetarian, palm oil-free).
• Flexible Search: Supports keyword-based searches to target specific categories like "healthy-snacks" or "organic-foods".
• Scalable Crawling: Built on CheerioCrawler for efficient, lightweight scraping with configurable request limits.
• High-Quality Output: Delivers clean, structured JSON data with timestamps for crawled URLs.
• Open-Source Integration: Leverages Open Food Facts' public API for ethical, transparent data sourcing.
• Error-Resilient: Handles missing data gracefully, ensuring robust performance across varying product entries.

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description	Example
searchKeywords	string	Yes	Keywords to search for products in specific categories (e.g., food types or brands).	"healthy-snacks"
maxItems	integer	No	Maximum number of requests (products) to crawl per run. Default is 100.	50

Example Usage

To run the Actor, provide input parameters in JSON format. Here's an example:

{
  "searchKeywords": "healthy-snacks",
  "maxItems": 50
}

This will search for products in the "healthy-snacks" category and limit the crawl to 50 items.

Example output (array of product objects):

[
  {
    "id": "6111032009948",
    "name": "raib salim banan – undefined – undefined",
    "url": "https://world.openfoodfacts.org/product/6111032009948/raib-salim-banan-undefined",
    "image": "https://images.openfoodfacts.org/images/products/611/103/200/9948/front_fr.3.200.jpg",
    "barcode": "6111032009948",
    "nutriscore": {
      "grade": "unknown",
      "score": 0,
      "description": "Missing data to compute the Nutri-Score",
      "status": "unknown"
    },
    "ecoscore": {
      "grade": "unknown",
      "score": 0,
      "description": "Missing a precise category",
      "status": "unknown"
    },
    "nova": {
      "grade": "e",
      "score": 0,
      "description": "",
      "status": "known"
    },
    "allergens": {
      "gluten": {
        "present": true,
        "status": "unknown"
      },
      "milk": {
        "present": true,
        "status": "known"
      },
      "nuts": {
        "present": true,
        "status": "unknown"
      },
      "soy": {
        "present": true,
        "status": "unknown"
      },
      "eggs": {
        "present": true,
        "status": "unknown"
      }
    },
    "dietary": {
      "vegan": {
        "status": "known",
        "grade": "e"
      },
      "vegetarian": {
        "status": "unknown",
        "grade": "unknown"
      },
      "palmOilFree": {
        "status": "known",
        "grade": "a"
      }
    },
    "crawledUrl": "https://world.openfoodfacts.org/cgi/search.pl?action=process&search_terms=undefined&sort_by=unique_scans_n&page_size=100",
    "crawledAt": "2026-02-10T08:21:21.693Z"
  }
]

Use Cases

• Market Research: Analyze trends in food categories, such as nutritional scores across healthy snacks.
• Competitive Intelligence: Monitor competitors' products by searching brand-specific keywords.
• Price Monitoring: Track product availability and details for e-commerce integrations.
• Content Aggregation: Build databases for apps or websites focused on dietary information.
• Academic Research: Gather data for studies on allergens, sustainability, or global food labeling.
• Business Automation: Automate data feeds for inventory management or compliance checks.

Installation and Usage

1. Search for "Openfoodfacts Category Scraper" in the Apify Store.
2. Click "Try for free" or "Run".
3. Configure input parameters (e.g., search keywords and max items).
4. Click "Start" to begin extraction.
5. Monitor progress in the log.
6. Export results in your preferred format (JSON, CSV, Excel).

Output Format

The Actor outputs an array of JSON objects, each representing a product. Key fields include:

• id: Unique product identifier.
• name: Product name.
• url: Link to the product page.
• image: Product image URL.
• barcode: Product barcode.
• nutriscore, ecoscore, nova: Scoring objects with grade, score, description, and status.
• allergens: Object detailing presence and status of common allergens.
• dietary: Object on vegan, vegetarian, and palm oil-free status.
• crawledUrl: The URL from which data was extracted.
• crawledAt: Timestamp of the crawl.

Data may include "unknown" statuses for incomplete entries, ensuring transparency.

Error Handling

The Actor handles common issues like network timeouts or invalid keywords by logging errors and continuing with available data. If maxItems is exceeded or no results are found, it gracefully terminates. Check logs for details on failures.

Rate Limiting and Best Practices

Apify enforces rate limits to prevent overuse; respect Open Food Facts' terms by limiting requests. Best practices: Start with small maxItems for testing, use specific keywords for targeted results, and schedule runs during off-peak hours. Avoid overloading the source site.

Support

For custom/simplified outputs or bug reports, please contact:

• Email: support@getdataforme.com
• Subject line: "custom support"
• Contact form: https://getdataforme.com/contact/

We're here to help you get the most out of this Actor!

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PART 2: Description

Unlock comprehensive food product data with the Openfoodfacts Category Scraper! Extract detailed info on nutrition, allergens, and dietary suitability from Open Food Facts. Key features: keyword-based category searches, structured JSON output, and scalable crawling. Perfect for market research, competitive analysis, and academic studies. Start scraping today—try it free on Apify! (148 characters)