LLM generated nutrition for accuracy.
The first item I manually look up is has about double calories listed in the "dataset" versus reality. Honey bunches of oats honey roasted.
replies(2):
Today I’m excited to launch OpenNutrition: a free, ODbL-licenced nutrition database of everyday generic, branded, and restaurant foods, a search engine that can browse the web to import new foods, and a companion app that bundles the database and search as a free macro tracking app.
Consistently logging the foods you eat has been shown to support long-term health outcomes (1)(2), but doing so easily depends on having a large, accurate, and up-to-date nutrition database. Free, public databases are often out-of-date, hard to navigate, and missing critical coverage (like branded restaurant foods). User-generated databases can be unreliable or closed-source. Commercial databases come with ongoing, often per-seat licensing costs, and usage restrictions that limit innovation.
As an amateur powerlifter and long-term weight loss maintainer, helping others pursue their health goals is something I care about deeply. After exiting my previous startup last year, I wanted to investigate the possibility of using LLMs to create the database and infrastructure required to make a great food logging app that was cost engineered for free and accessible distribution, as I believe that the availability of these tools is a public good. That led to creating the dataset I’m releasing today; nutritional data is public record, and its organization and dissemination should be, too.
What’s in the database?
- 5,287 common everyday foods, 3,836 prepared and generic restaurant foods, and 4,182 distinct menu items from ~50 popular US restaurant chains; foods have standardized naming, consistent numeric serving sizes, estimated micronutrient profiles, descriptions, and citations/groundings to USDA, AUSNUT, FRIDA, CNF, etc, when possible.
- 313,442 of the most popular US branded grocery products with standardized naming, parsed serving sizes, and additive/allergen data, grounded in branded USDA data; the most popular 1% have estimated micronutrient data, with the goal of full coverage.
Even the largest commercial databases can be frustrating to work with when searching for foods or customizations without existing coverage. To solve this, I created a real-time version of the same approach used to build the core database that can browse the web to learn about new foods or food customizations if needed (e.g., a highly customized Starbucks order). There is a limited demo on the web, and in-app you can log foods with text search, via barcode scan, or by image, all of which can search the web to import foods for you if needed. Foods discovered via these searches are fed back into the database, and I plan to publish updated versions as coverage expands.
- Search & Explore: https://www.opennutrition.app/search
- Methodology/About: https://www.opennutrition.app/about
- Get the iOS App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/opennutrition-macro-tracker/id...
- Download the dataset: https://www.opennutrition.app/download
OpenNutrition’s iOS app offers free essential logging and a limited number of agentic searches, plus expenditure tracking and ongoing diet recommendations like best-in-class paid apps. A paid tier ($49/year) unlocks additional searches and features (data backup, prioritized micronutrient coverage for logged foods), and helps fund further development and broader library coverage.
I’d love to hear your feedback, questions, and suggestions—whether it’s about the database itself, a really great/bad search result, or the app.
1. Burke et al., 2011, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3268700/
2. Patel et al., 2019, https://mhealth.jmir.org/2019/2/e12209/
OpenNutrition: https://www.opennutrition.app/search/honey-bunches-of-oats-h...
Via Manufacturer: https://www.honeybunchesofoats.com/product/honey-bunches-of-...
If you wouldn't mind DM'ing me the barcode you're looking at that would be helpful to understand what the nature of the discrepancy is.
line 13669: fd_AX4PUMF1h0RU Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted by Post ["Post Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted Cereal"] Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted is a popular breakfast cereal combining crispy whole grain flakes with clusters of honey-roasted oats. This Post cereal features a distinctive mix of textures and a sweet honey flavor profile, created through a specialized roasting process. While providing some dietary fiber, it contains a relatively high sugar content typical of sweetened breakfast cereals, with honey-roasted clusters being its signature component. grocery [] {"common":{"unit":"cup","quantity":1},"metric":{"unit":"g","quantity":41}} {"iron":39.5,"zinc":3.66,"water":3.6585,"biotin":4.878,"copper":0.4878,"iodine":4.878,"lysine":0.3902,"niacin":19.5,"serine":0.3171,"sodium":463,"valine":0.5366,"alanine":0.3171,"calcium":24,"choline":12.1951,"cystine":0.0976,"glycine":0.2195,"leucine":0.6341,"omega_3":0,"omega_6":0,"omega_9":2.44,"proline":0.4146,"protein":7.32,"taurine":0,"thiamin":1,"xylitol":0,"arginine":0.4146,"caffeine":0,"calories":390,"chlorine":0,"chromium":2.439,"cysteine":0.0976,"selenium":12.1951,"sorbitol":0,"tyrosine":0.2195,"histidine":0.2195,"magnesium":59,"manganese":0.7317,"potassium":146,"threonine":0.3171,"total_fat":4.88,"vitamin_a":243.9024,"vitamin_c":0,"vitamin_d":5,"vitamin_e":1.2195,"vitamin_k":0.4878,"folate_dfe":243.9024,"isoleucine":0.4146,"methionine":0.122,"molybdenum":7.3171,"oleic_acid":2.44,"phosphorus":146,"riboflavin":1.24,"trans_fats":0,"tryptophan":0.0976,"vitamin_b6":1.95,"capric_acid":0,"cholesterol":0,"erucic_acid":0,"lauric_acid":0,"vitamin_b12":14.6,"added_sugars":19.5,"stearic_acid":0,"total_sugars":22,"aspartic_acid":0.6341,"caprylic_acid":0,"carbohydrates":82.9,"dietary_fiber":4.9,"ethyl_alcohol":0,"glutamic_acid":1.4634,"linoleic_acid":0,"myristic_acid":0,"palmitic_acid":0,"phenylalanine":0.4146,"soluble_fiber":1.2195,"linolenic_acid":0,"saturated_fats":0,"sugar_alcohols":0,"eicosenoic_acid":0,"insoluble_fiber":3.6805,"arachidonic_acid":0,"pantothenic_acid":1.2195,"other_carbohydrates":0,"alpha_linolenic_acid":0,"docosahexaenoic_acid":0,"gamma_linolenic_acid":0,"monounsaturated_fats":2.44,"polyunsaturated_fats":0,"docosapentaenoic_acid":0,"eicosapentaenoic_acid":0,"dihomo_gamma_linolenic_acid":0} 0884912359155 ["sweetened"] {"common":{"unit":"oz","quantity":12},"metric":{"unit":"g","quantity":340}} Corn, whole grain wheat, sugar, whole grain rolled oats, rice, canola and/or soybean oil, wheat flour, malted barley flour, corn syrup, salt, molasses, honey, caramel color, barley malt extract, natural and artificial flavor, annatto extract (color), bht added to preserve freshness, vitamins and minerals: reduced iron, niacinamide (vitamin b3), vitamin a palmitate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin b6), zinc oxide, thiamin mononitrate (vitamin b1), riboflavin (vitamin b2), folic acid, vitamin d3, vitamin b12 {"gluten":["wheat","barley","malt"],"food_dyes":["caramel color","annatto"],"added_sugars":["sugar","corn syrup"],"allergen_wheat":["wheat"],"allergen_soybeans":["soybean"],"artificial_flavors":["artificial flavor"],"artificial_preservatives":["bht"]}