Where the food facts come from.
PlateRatio uses downloaded USDA FoodData Central snapshots. Every food page links to the original FDC record and shows the source’s publication or modified date.
The loaded snapshots
| Dataset | Release | Food profiles |
|---|---|---|
| US branded labels | Apr 2026 | 481,334 after identifier grouping |
| Foundation consumer food records | Apr 2026 | 469 |
| SR Legacy | Apr 2018 | 7,793 |
The branded food table contains 1,999,950 FDC records, including historical versions and records for other markets. Our US catalogue groups valid product identifiers and keeps unsupported identifiers separate. It contains 10,846 branded profiles meeting our discovery criteria. These are source counts, not a claim about products currently on sale.
Foundation archives also contain laboratory samples and acquisition records. Those supporting rows do not become separate consumer food profiles. SR Legacy was finalized in 2018, even when an FDC record shows a later publication date.
Different sources mean different evidence
Foundation data draw on analytically derived food composition. SR Legacy combines analyses, calculations, and literature. Branded data are submitted manufacturer label records, standardized by USDA, and can reflect nutrition-label rounding. We label these source families separately.
Food composition varies with variety, processing, cooking, and preparation. Branded labels can change between bulk snapshots. A recent snapshot does not mean every included label was recently modified.
Rights and attribution
USDA states that FoodData Central data are in the public domain and released under CC0. PlateRatio attributes USDA and links original records. See the USDA API guide and data licence, data-type documentation, and branded-food documentation.
This version does not contain Open Food Facts data, borrowed package photographs, or manufacturer logos. The homepage photograph was generated as an illustration and does not depict a measured portion or a verified product.
Snapshot provenance
SR Legacy
Official source archive · release 2018-04 · 5.8 MiB downloaded
SHA-256: b80817294b8850530aaedf2e515c02593b1824f763a0ff356e5c2081643e6fd0
Foundation
Official source archive · release 2026-04-30 · 3.6 MiB downloaded
SHA-256: 70457ee9d9342f43bda2010318c85f04210c689fdeb9cd2da4c513b0e8dbc655
Branded labels
Official source archive · release 2026-04-30 · 428 MiB downloaded
SHA-256: 26050a5d03197469813754743a21ee0fad4ccf22b6aac2a995846a987719fc49
Freshness and corrections
The releases listed above are the snapshots currently loaded by PlateRatio. The USDA download page lists available bulk releases. The online branded database can change between snapshots; PlateRatio does not claim to include those intervening updates.
We build each release separately, validate it, and then replace the serving database. Record dates remain source dates. See our calculation and eligibility rules or report a correction.