🔔 USDA Branded Food Product Master

One structured branded_food_record per branded product in USDA FoodData Central — GTIN/UPC, brand owner and name, serving size, market country, and publication dates — pulled straight from the official FDC data dump and carried source-native and verbatim.

Differentiation: this is the filtered, billing-honest slice of FDC's ~2-million-product branded file, not a bulk re-host. You supply a filter — GTIN/UPC list, FDC IDs, brand owner, category, or market country — and pay only for the delivered records. The 954 MB branded_food.csv member is streamed out of the ZIP over HTTP range and never emitted in full; a hard scan bound keeps every run finite.

Output is one branded_food_record row per result; billing is pay-per-event, the value event being one branded food record (a $0.02 start fee per run, then $0.02 per branded food record). Source: fdc.nal.usda.gov.

No login, no API key and no CAPTCHA solving are involved: the source is read logged-out with an identified contact User-Agent.

Output is one branded_food_record row per result; billing is pay-per-event, the value event being one branded food record (a $0.02 start fee per run, then $0.02 per branded food record). Source: fdc.nal.usda.gov.

No login, no API key and no CAPTCHA solving are involved: the source is read logged-out with an identified contact User-Agent.

📊 Sample Output

Real rows from run xRZ3dCahyllhsPll4 on build 0.1.5 (2026-09-19), the same input as the Quick start below — every value is as the source published it (emails masked, long text shortened):

gtin_upc	brand_owner	household_serving_fulltext	branded_food_category	market_country	modified_date
00027000612323	Richardson Oilseed Products (US) Limited	1 Tbsp (15 ml)	Oils Edible	United States	2020-10-02
00051000198808	CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY	Amount per serving	Herbs/Spices/Extracts	United States	2020-09-12
00051000213273	CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY	PER CONTAINER	Prepared Soups	United States	2020-09-01
00051000213303	CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY	PER CONTAINER	Prepared Soups	United States	2020-09-01
00051000224637	CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY	Amount per Serving	Herbs/Spices/Extracts	United States	2020-10-03
00051000227492	CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY	PER 1 CAN	Prepared Soups	United States	2020-09-01
00051000024213	CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY	PER CAN	Herbs/Spices/Extracts	United States	2020-10-03
00051000227478	CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY	Amount per serving	Sauces/Spreads/Dips/Condiments	United States	2020-09-01

The run finished with the status message: NORMAL: 50 unique rows (0 duplicates collapsed) from 2026-04-30. billable=50

✅ What you get

Each row is flat JSON with these fields (from the dataset schema and the sample run; a field the source does not publish for a given row is null):

• record_type (string/null) — e.g. branded_food_record
• fdc_id (string/null) — e.g. 1105904
• gtin_upc (string/null) — e.g. 00027000612323
• brand_owner (string/null) — e.g. Richardson Oilseed Products (US) Limited
• brand_name (string/null) — null in every sample row
• subbrand_name (string/null) — null in every sample row
• serving_size (string/null) — e.g. 15.0
• serving_size_unit (string/null) — e.g. ml
• household_serving_fulltext (string/null) — e.g. 1 Tbsp (15 ml)
• branded_food_category (string/null) — e.g. Oils Edible
• market_country (string/null) — e.g. United States
• modified_date (string/null) — e.g. 2020-10-02
• available_date (string/null) — e.g. 2020-11-13
• discontinued_date (string/null) — null in every sample row
• data_source (string/null) — e.g. GDSN
• trade_channel (string/null) — null in every sample row
• short_description (string/null) — null in every sample row
• package_weight (string/null) — null in every sample row
• ingredients (string/null) — e.g. Vegetable Oil
• not_a_significant_source_of (string/null) — null in every sample row
• source_url (string/null) — e.g. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/1105904/nutrients
• source (string/null) — e.g. usda-branded-food-product-master
• release_date (string/null) — e.g. 2026-04-30
• observed_at (string/null) — e.g. 2026-09-19T00:22:54Z
• release_checksum (string/null) — e.g. 6a860d85-1cb35fb7
• license (string/null) — e.g. USDA FoodData Central — CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication). Cite: U.S. Departmen
• attribution (string/null) — e.g. USDA Agricultural Research Service — FoodData Central (https://fdc.nal.usda.gov)
• terminal (string/null) — null in every sample row
• scope (string/null) — null in every sample row
• note (string/null) — null in every sample row
• reported_total (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• raw_seen (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• duplicates (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• unique_found (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• delivered (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row

✅ What you get

Each row is flat JSON with these fields (from the dataset schema and the sample run; a field the source does not publish for a given row is null):

• record_type (string/null) — e.g. branded_food_record
• fdc_id (string/null) — e.g. 1105904
• gtin_upc (string/null) — e.g. 00027000612323
• brand_owner (string/null) — e.g. Richardson Oilseed Products (US) Limited
• brand_name (string/null) — null in every sample row
• subbrand_name (string/null) — null in every sample row
• serving_size (string/null) — e.g. 15.0
• serving_size_unit (string/null) — e.g. ml
• household_serving_fulltext (string/null) — e.g. 1 Tbsp (15 ml)
• branded_food_category (string/null) — e.g. Oils Edible
• market_country (string/null) — e.g. United States
• modified_date (string/null) — e.g. 2020-10-02
• available_date (string/null) — e.g. 2020-11-13
• discontinued_date (string/null) — null in every sample row
• data_source (string/null) — e.g. GDSN
• trade_channel (string/null) — null in every sample row
• short_description (string/null) — null in every sample row
• package_weight (string/null) — null in every sample row
• ingredients (string/null) — e.g. Vegetable Oil
• not_a_significant_source_of (string/null) — null in every sample row
• source_url (string/null) — e.g. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/1105904/nutrients
• source (string/null) — e.g. usda-branded-food-product-master
• release_date (string/null) — e.g. 2026-04-30
• observed_at (string/null) — e.g. 2026-09-18T23:33:18Z
• release_checksum (string/null) — e.g. 6a860d85-1cb35fb7
• license (string/null) — e.g. USDA FoodData Central — CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication). Cite: U.S. Departmen
• attribution (string/null) — e.g. USDA Agricultural Research Service — FoodData Central (https://fdc.nal.usda.gov)
• terminal (string/null) — null in every sample row
• scope (string/null) — null in every sample row
• note (string/null) — null in every sample row
• reported_total (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• raw_seen (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• duplicates (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• unique_found (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• delivered (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row

⚙️ Sample inputs

1. Quick start — the Store example (this is what the sample above came from)

{
  "marketCountry": "United States",
  "maxRecords": 50,
  "maxScanRows": 20000
}

The sample run charged exactly: 1 × $0.02 apify-actor-start + 50 × $0.02 branded_food_record = $1.02 on the Free tier — every delivered row was billed.

2. A smaller, narrowed run

{
  "marketCountry": "United States",
  "maxRecords": 5,
  "maxScanRows": 20000
}

Caps the run at 5 rows — about $0.12 on the Free tier ($0.02 start + 5 × $0.02). marketCountry narrows what the source is asked for.

3. A full-size run

{
  "marketCountry": "United States",
  "maxRecords": 2500,
  "maxScanRows": 20000
}

Up to 2500 rows (the schema default for maxRecords) — about $50.02 on the Free tier ($0.02 start + 2500 × $0.02) if the source has that many.

🧾 JSON sample record

One real record from run xRZ3dCahyllhsPll4, exactly as it lands in the dataset (emails masked, long text shortened):

{
  "record_type": "branded_food_record",
  "fdc_id": "1105904",
  "gtin_upc": "00027000612323",
  "brand_owner": "Richardson Oilseed Products (US) Limited",
  "brand_name": null,
  "subbrand_name": null,
  "serving_size": "15.0",
  "serving_size_unit": "ml",
  "household_serving_fulltext": "1 Tbsp (15 ml)",
  "branded_food_category": "Oils Edible",
  "market_country": "United States",
  "modified_date": "2020-10-02",
  "available_date": "2020-11-13",
  "discontinued_date": null,
  "data_source": "GDSN",
  "trade_channel": null,
  "short_description": null,
  "package_weight": null,
  "ingredients": "Vegetable Oil",
  "not_a_significant_source_of": null,
  "source_url": "https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/1105904/nutrients",
  "source": "usda-branded-food-product-master",
  "release_date": "2026-04-30",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-19T00:22:54Z",
  "release_checksum": "6a860d85-1cb35fb7",
  "license": "USDA FoodData Central — CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication). Cite: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central.",
  "attribution": "USDA Agricultural Research Service — FoodData Central (https://fdc.nal.usda.gov)"
}

🔧 How it works

Source. The actor reads fdc.nal.usda.gov — endpoints: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov, https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-datasets/FoodData_Central_csv_. Public pages and feeds only; nothing behind a login.

Transport. Plain HTTPS from the Apify platform, no proxy. robots.txt is read first and a disallowed path is never fetched. Every request carries an identified contact User-Agent. Pacing: CRAWL_DELAY=0.0.

Terminal states. A run ends NORMAL, CAPPED (your cap was reached), PARTIAL (something was withheld and the message says what), GENUINE_EMPTY (the source was read and truly had nothing in scope) or BLOCKED (the source refused or changed shape — the run FAILS loud and bills nothing). A zero-row run is never reported as a silent success.

Charging. Each branded food record is charged at the moment it is pushed (branded_food_record); a row that fails to charge is not delivered, so the dataset count always equals the charged count.

🔧 How it works

Transport. Plain HTTPS from the Apify platform, no proxy. robots.txt is read first and a disallowed path is never fetched. Every request carries an identified contact User-Agent. Pacing: CRAWL_DELAY=0.0.

Terminal states. A run ends NORMAL, CAPPED (your cap was reached), PARTIAL (something was withheld and the message says what), GENUINE_EMPTY (the source was read and truly had nothing in scope) or BLOCKED (the source refused or changed shape — the run FAILS loud and bills nothing). A zero-row run is never reported as a silent success.

Charging. Each branded food record is charged at the moment it is pushed (branded_food_record); a row that fails to charge is not delivered, so the dataset count always equals the charged count.

Source

The official USDA FoodData Central full-CSV dump only — https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-datasets/FoodData_Central_csv_<release>.zip (newest release auto-resolved from the official download page; branded_food.csv member). robots.txt on fdc.nal.usda.gov is User-agent: * / Disallow: (nothing disallowed). The FDC API and search routes are never touched. The release date and the archive checksum (ETag) are carried on every record and in the run receipt.

Filters (at least one required)

gtins (GTIN/UPC list) · fdcIds · brandOwner (substring) · category (substring) · marketCountry. No filter → a loud, unbilled Block. Results are capped by maxRecords (default 2500, max 5000) and bounded by maxScanRows over the streamed member.

What it does NOT do

It emits no medical, dietary, or allergen verdict of any kind. The ingredients and not_a_significant_source_of strings are the manufacturer's own label text, carried verbatim — this actor makes no allergen or health determination. Cover images and book/marketing text are never involved.

Licence

USDA FoodData Central is released CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication); these dumps add no new rights. Cite: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central (https://fdc.nal.usda.gov).

Billing

Pay-per-event. branded_food_record is charged once per delivered record ($0.02). Volume tiers apply a GOLD-floored −10 / −20 / −33% ladder. apify-actor-start ($0.02) is platform-reserved and never charged in code. A filter that matches nothing is a clean GENUINE_EMPTY — nothing billed.

What is not done. No login, no cookie or CAPTCHA bypass, no private or personal-account data, no browser automation.

What is not done. No login, no cookie or CAPTCHA bypass, no private or personal-account data, no browser automation.

💰 Pricing example

Event	Free	Bronze	Silver	Gold
Actor Start (apify-actor-start)	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02
Branded Food Record (branded_food_record)	$0.02	$0.018	$0.016	$0.0134

Worked at the live Free-tier price:

• 8 branded food records: $0.02 start + 8 × $0.02 = $0.18
• 25 branded food records: $0.02 start + 25 × $0.02 = $0.52
• 2500 branded food records: $0.02 start + 2500 × $0.02 = $50.02

A run that delivers zero rows charges the $0.02 start fee only. A BLOCKED run (source refused) fails loud and charges no value event. The start fee is charged once per GB of run memory; the default run memory is 4096 MB.

Yield on the sample run: NORMAL: 50 unique rows (0 duplicates collapsed) from 2026-04-30. billable=50. maxRecords is a hard ceiling on what is delivered and billed, never a target.

⚖️ Legal & ToS

This actor reads public, logged-out pages and feeds published by fdc.nal.usda.gov. It collects only what the source publishes to any visitor, keeps to the source's robots rules (checked on every run), identifies itself with a contact User-Agent, and does not access accounts, private data or anything behind authentication. Use the output in line with the source's terms and your local law; the intended use is B2B research and monitoring.

❓ FAQ

Q: Do I need an API key or a login?
A: No. The source (fdc.nal.usda.gov) is read logged-out; the input schema has no key field and the actor carries no secrets.

Q: Why did my run return 0 rows?
A: Read the run's status message. GENUINE_EMPTY means the source was read and had nothing in scope for your input; BLOCKED means the source refused and the run failed without billing a value event — retry later or narrow the input. A zero-row run bills the start fee only.

Q: How many rows can one run return?
A: Up to maxRecords (default 2500). Raise the cap for a bigger run; you pay per delivered row.

Q: How fresh is the data?
A: Every run reads the source live at run time; nothing is cached between runs. Put it on a schedule for a continuous feed.

Q: What formats can I export?
A: The dataset downloads as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or RSS from the run's Dataset tab or the Apify API, and any run can push to a webhook or integration.

Q: How is this different from the other NexGen Watch actors actors?
A: Same output shape and billing model; this one covers fdc.nal.usda.gov. The siblings under Related Actors cover the other sources or slices — run several on one schedule for a combined feed.

Q: Are there rate limits?
A: The actor paces itself against the source (CRAWL_DELAY=0.0) and honours its robots rules; there is no per-buyer limit beyond your Apify plan's concurrency.

🆘 Troubleshooting

• Run FAILED with BLOCKED → the source refused the request or changed its page shape → nothing was billed beyond the start fee; retry after a while, and if it persists open an Issue with the run id.
• Status says CAPPED → your cap (maxRecords) was reached → raise it for a bigger run.
• Input validation error on start → a field is outside the schema's allowed values → start from the Quick start block and change one field at a time.
• Run TIMED-OUT → a very wide request on a slow day → raise the run timeout in Run options or narrow the input; what was delivered before the timeout is still in the dataset.

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