openFDA Tobacco Problem Reports Scraper

openFDA Tobacco Problem Reports Scraper

Scrape tobacco problem reports from the FDA's openFDA API, up to a million per run. Each report includes the product type, reported health problem, and submission date. No API key required. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

The FDA's openFDA Tobacco Problem Reports dataset contains voluntary reports of health and safety issues with tobacco products. Manually downloading and parsing the API responses is slow and requires handling pagination and rate limits. This Actor reads the public API directly, lets you filter by product or keyword, and returns every matching report in a clean, flat schema ready for analysis.

Who uses it	What they scrape openFDA for
Public health researchers	Monitor emerging health issues reported for specific tobacco product categories.
Regulatory compliance analysts	Track the volume and nature of adverse event reports submitted to the FDA for tobacco products.
Tobacco industry market intelligence teams	Analyze reported problems by product type to identify potential safety signals.
Data journalists	Obtain raw data on tobacco-related health complaints for investigative reporting.

What it does

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

• 🔍 Keyword and product search: Filter reports by a specific tobacco product or keyword using openFDA query syntax.
• 📊 Structured flat output: Every report is returned as a single row with consistent columns, ready for spreadsheets or databases.
• ⚡ High-volume collection: Collect up to one million reports in a single run, limited only by what is available in the dataset.

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

What you can do with openFDA data

🩺 Monitor health complaints by product.

A public health researcher collects all reports mentioning e-cigarettes from the last quarter to identify frequently reported symptoms.

📈 Track reporting trends over time.

A regulatory analyst runs the Actor weekly to build a time series of tobacco problem report volumes by product category.

🔎 Investigate a specific safety signal.

A journalist searches for reports containing a specific health term to gather case data for a story on tobacco product safety.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key needed	Access the openFDA public endpoint directly without registration or authentication.
Flexible filtering	Use openFDA's search syntax to narrow results to specific products like cigarettes, cigars, or e-cigarettes.
Flat, analysis-ready output	Every report is normalized into a single row, eliminating nested JSON parsing.
Scalable collection	Retrieve anywhere from a single report to a million, respecting the API's rate limits automatically.

How it compares

No other Store actor targets openFDA 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 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 optional search query for tobacco products or keywords, and set a maximum number of reports to collect. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
 "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
 "maxItems": 200
}

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 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-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 query syntax. The query uses openFDA's field search format. Try removing the query to see if any reports are returned without filters, then refine your search term.

The run is taking a long time.

Large requests with a high maximum report count will take longer because the Actor must paginate through many API pages. Reduce the maxItems value if you need faster results.

Some fields are empty in my output.

The openFDA dataset contains voluntary reports, so not every field is populated for every submission. Empty fields reflect missing data in the original report.

I received fewer reports than my maxItems setting.

The Actor stops when it has collected all available reports matching your query. If fewer reports exist in the database than your maximum, you will receive all of them.

FAQ

Question	Answer
What is the openFDA Tobacco Problem Reports dataset?	It is a public dataset from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration containing voluntary reports from consumers and healthcare professionals about health or safety problems experienced with tobacco products.
Do I need an API key to use this Actor?	No. The openFDA API is public and does not require an API key or registration. This Actor uses the public endpoint directly.
How do I filter reports for a specific product?	Use the search query input with openFDA syntax, for example 'tobacco_products:cigarettes' to get only cigarette-related reports. The query is passed directly to the API.
What data fields does each report contain?	Each report includes fields such as the tobacco product type, the reported health problem, the date of submission, and other metadata provided by the FDA. The exact fields are shown in the sample output.
How many reports can I collect in one run?	You can set the maximum up to 1,000,000 reports. The actual number collected depends on how many reports match your query in the openFDA database.
Does this Actor handle API rate limits?	Yes. The Actor manages pagination and respects the openFDA rate limits automatically so your run completes without manual intervention.
Can I leave the search query empty?	Yes. If you leave the search query blank, the Actor will return the most recent tobacco problem reports across all product categories, up to your specified maximum.
What export formats are supported?	You can export your collected dataset in CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML formats from the Apify platform.
How current is the data from openFDA?	The openFDA Tobacco Problem Reports dataset is updated regularly by the FDA. This Actor fetches the latest available data each time it runs.

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.