USDA FoodData Central - Nutrition Facts, Ingredients & Food Composition for 300K+ Foods

Search the USDA FoodData Central database for complete nutrition data on 300,000+ foods. Get calories, protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, minerals, ingredients lists, serving sizes, UPC/GTIN codes, brand owner names, and food categories. Filter by data type: branded packaged products, foundation reference foods, or SR Legacy classic USDA data. Look up any individual food by FDC ID for a full nutrient profile.

Data is sourced from the USDA FoodData Central API. No user API key configuration required.

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Output Fields

Field	Type	Description
fdcId	integer	FoodData Central unique identifier
dataType	string	Data source (Branded, Foundation, SR Legacy, Survey)
brandOwner	string	Brand owner company name
foodCategory	string	Food category
servingSize	number	Serving size quantity
servingSizeUnit	string	Serving size unit (g, ml, oz, etc.)
ingredients	string	Full ingredients list
gtinUpc	string	UPC or GTIN barcode
nutrients	array	Nutrient values: name, amount, and unit for each reported nutrient

The nutrients array contains all nutrients reported for the food, including macronutrients (energy, protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, sugars), vitamins (A, C, D, B12, folate, etc.), and minerals (calcium, iron, potassium, sodium, etc.).

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Use Cases

• Food tech and nutrition apps — Bulk-load nutrient data for a recipe calculator, diet tracker, or meal planning tool without building and maintaining your own database.
• CPG and product development — Research competitive nutrient profiles, serving sizes, and ingredient formulations for existing branded products in a category.
• E-commerce and retail — Populate product pages with accurate nutrition facts and ingredients for food items by UPC code.
• Health and wellness platforms — Build or enrich a nutrition database with USDA-verified data for specific food categories or brands.
• Academic and dietary research — Access the SR Legacy and Foundation datasets for standardized nutrient composition data used in dietary studies.
• Regulatory and labeling compliance — Cross-reference labeled nutrition facts against USDA reference data for a product category.

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How to Use

Search by keyword, look up a specific food by FDC ID, or browse a food list filtered by data type.

Example input — search for cheddar cheese (all types):

{
  "searchType": "search",
  "query": "cheddar cheese",
  "dataType": "",
  "maxResults": 25,
  "pageSize": 50
}

Example input — branded chicken breast products only:

{
  "searchType": "search",
  "query": "chicken breast",
  "dataType": "Branded",
  "maxResults": 50,
  "pageSize": 50
}

Example input — look up a food by FDC ID:

{
  "searchType": "lookup",
  "fdcId": "2057648",
  "maxResults": 1
}

Example input — browse Foundation foods (USDA reference foods):

{
  "searchType": "list",
  "dataType": "Foundation",
  "maxResults": 100,
  "pageSize": 100
}

Search Types

Value	Description
search	Full-text search by food name or keywords
lookup	Retrieve a single food by FDC ID with complete nutrient data
list	Browse foods filtered by data type

Data Type Options

Value	Description
Branded	Packaged consumer products with UPC codes, brand names, and label-based nutrition
Foundation	USDA reference foods with analytically measured nutrient values
SR Legacy	USDA Standard Reference — classic database used in dietary research
Survey (FNDDS)	Foods and nutrient values from the national dietary survey

Leave dataType empty to search across all types.

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Cost

Approximately $0.10 per run (platform start fee) plus minimal compute. Most runs complete in under 30 seconds.

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Output Formats

Results are available as JSON, CSV, and Excel from the Apify dataset interface. The nutrients array in JSON contains the full nutrient breakdown for each food.

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FAQ

Does this require a USDA API key? No configuration is required. The actor handles API access automatically.

How many foods are in the database? FoodData Central contains over 300,000 foods across all data types: branded products, foundation foods, SR Legacy items, and survey foods.

What is the difference between Branded and Foundation data? Branded foods use nutrient values from product labels submitted by manufacturers. Foundation foods are analyzed in USDA laboratories and include more detailed nutrient profiles at the raw ingredient level.

Can I search by UPC or barcode? The query field accepts UPC/GTIN codes as search terms when using searchType: "search". Results for branded products include the gtinUpc field.

What nutrients are included? The nutrient list varies by food and data type. Branded foods typically include the standard Nutrition Facts panel nutrients. Foundation and SR Legacy foods include 50–100+ nutrients, including fatty acid profiles, amino acids, and micronutrients not required on labels.

What is an FDC ID? The unique identifier assigned to each food in FoodData Central (e.g. 2057648). Use it with searchType: "lookup" to retrieve the complete record for a specific food.