openFDA Tobacco Problem Reports Scraper

openFDA Tobacco Problem Reports Scraper

Scrape tobacco product problem reports from the openFDA API, up to a million per run. Every report includes the product category, reported issue, health outcome, and submission date. No API key or registration required. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

The openFDA Tobacco Problem Reports dataset contains adverse event and product problem reports submitted by consumers and health professionals. Manually querying the API for large-scale analysis means writing pagination logic, handling rate limits, and normalizing nested fields. This Actor reads the public openFDA endpoint directly, accepts a search expression, and returns every matching report in a flat, consistent schema ready for analysis.

Who uses it	What they scrape openFDA Tobacco Problem Reports for
Public health researchers	Monitor emerging safety signals across tobacco product categories over time.
Regulatory analysts	Track the volume and types of adverse events reported for specific product categories.
Tobacco industry compliance teams	Benchmark their own product complaint data against publicly reported FDA submissions.
Data journalists	Investigate patterns in tobacco-related health outcomes reported to the FDA.

What it does

This Actor collects tobacco product problem reports from the openFDA API by keyword or product category search and returns each report as a flat row.

• 🔍 Product category search: filter reports by product_category, such as cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, or smokeless tobacco.
• 📅 Date-sorted results: pull the most recent reports first with date_submitted:desc, or reverse the order for historical analysis.
• 📊 Scalable collection: collect from a single sample up to one million reports in a single run, limited only by what the openFDA API returns.
• 🔎 Keyword search: use openFDA search syntax to find reports mentioning specific terms, brands, or problem descriptions.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with openFDA Tobacco Problem Reports data

📈 Monitor adverse event trends.

A public health researcher runs a weekly scrape for product_category:e-cigarettes sorted by date_submitted:desc to track whether certain reported health outcomes are increasing.

📋 Build a regulatory intelligence dashboard.

A compliance analyst collects all reports mentioning a specific brand name to compare publicly reported issues against internal complaint logs.

📰 Investigate tobacco safety stories.

A data journalist pulls the full dataset for a product category, filters by serious health outcomes, and identifies patterns for an investigative piece.

🔬 Support academic research.

A university researcher collects a year of reports across all product categories to analyze the relationship between product type and reported health outcome severity.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key needed	The openFDA endpoint is public; start scraping immediately without registration.
Flat output schema	Nested API responses are normalized into a single table row per report.
Full openFDA search syntax	Use product_category, date ranges, and keyword queries exactly as the API supports.
Up to 1M reports per run	Collect large datasets for longitudinal studies or population-level analysis.

How it compares

No other Store actor targets openFDA Tobacco Problem Reports the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

	openFDA Tobacco Problem Reports Scraper	Build it in-house	By hand
Setup	Run it now, zero config	Days of engineering	None, but hours per pull
When openFDA Tobacco Problem Reports changes	Maintained for you	You fix it	You re-learn the page
Proxies, retries, anti-bot	Built in	Your problem	Browser only
Output	Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export	Whatever you build	Copy-paste
Cost	Pay per result	Engineering time	Analyst hours

Configure the run

Drive the Actor with an openFDA search expression and an optional sort order, and the maxItems limit controls how many reports reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "maxItems": 10,
  "sort": "date_submitted:desc"
}

A larger pull:

{
  "maxItems": 200,
  "sort": "date_submitted:desc"
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.0085 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$0.85
1,000 results	$8.50
10,000 results	$85.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the openFDA Tobacco Problem Reports Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to openFDA Tobacco Problem Reports through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

$claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/openfda-tobacco-problem-bus-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check your search expression syntax. Try a broad query first, such as product_category:cigarettes, to verify the connection works. Ensure you are using valid openFDA field names and operators.

Why did my run stop before reaching maxItems?

The openFDA API returns only the reports that match your search expression. If fewer matching reports exist in the database than your maxItems value, the Actor will return all available matches and stop.

I am getting an error about the search syntax.

The search field passes your expression directly to openFDA. Verify your syntax against the openFDA API documentation. Common issues include missing colons, unescaped special characters, or incorrect field names.

Can I search for a specific brand name?

Yes. Use the openFDA search syntax to query by brand name or any keyword that appears in the report text. The search field supports the full openFDA query language including phrase searches and boolean operators.

The output has nested fields I did not expect.

The Actor normalizes the openFDA API response into a flat structure. If you see unexpected nesting, check the dataset preview to understand the schema. Each report becomes one row with columns for each available field.

FAQ

Question	Answer
Do I need an API key to use this Actor?	No. The openFDA API is a public dataset that does not require an API key or registration. You can start scraping immediately.
What search expressions can I use?	You can use any valid openFDA search syntax. Common examples include product_category:cigarettes, product_category:e-cigarettes, or more complex queries combining fields. The search field passes your expression directly to the API.
How many reports can I collect in one run?	You can set maxItems up to 1,000,000 reports per run. The actual number returned depends on how many reports match your search expression in the openFDA database.
What tobacco product categories are available?	The openFDA dataset includes reports for cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, hookah, pipe tobacco, and other tobacco product categories as defined by the FDA.
Can I filter by date range?	Yes. Use the openFDA search syntax in the search field to specify date ranges, for example date_submitted:[2020-01-01+TO+2024-12-31] combined with a product category filter.
What fields does each report include?	Each report includes the product category, reported problem description, health outcome, date submitted, reporter type, and other fields available in the openFDA Tobacco Problem Reports endpoint. The Actor normalizes nested data into a flat row.
Is this the complete FDA tobacco problem reports dataset?	This Actor returns all reports that match your search expression from the openFDA API. The openFDA dataset contains adverse event and product problem reports submitted to the FDA for tobacco products.
Can I export the data?	Yes. Apify supports exporting your dataset to CSV, JSON, Excel, XML, and other formats directly from the run results.
How often is the openFDA data updated?	The openFDA Tobacco Problem Reports dataset is updated regularly by the FDA as new reports are submitted and processed. You can schedule this Actor to run periodically to capture new reports.
What is the difference between this and the openFDA Drug Adverse Events scraper?	This Actor specifically scrapes the Tobacco Problem Reports endpoint, which contains reports related to tobacco products. The drug adverse events endpoint covers pharmaceutical products and is a separate dataset.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.