OpenNutrition
Data
nutrition database
SHOW HN2025
311points
150comments
#173of 3,837 in 2025
Top 5%of 2025 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
11 positive, 21 neutral or asking, 7 mixed, 34 critical, out of 73 comments about the project. Thread score -0.27.
Execution: 0 for, 17 againstIdea: 3 for, 11 againstDesign: 3 for, 0 againstPerformance: 0 for, 3 againstDocs: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Useful free alternative to existing food databases
From 2 comments
I have tracked my macro intake seriously for years and use the database every day, as do many folks who used the initial app releases. It's actually more valuable to me to have…
joshdickson on HNCongrats on the launch! Looks slick and reactive. Now I wish there was an app to analyse my meals from pictures and estimate the calories/macros, I guess it exists somewhere but…
Zealotux on HN
Slick and reactive interface
From 1 comment
Congrats on the launch! Looks slick and reactive. Now I wish there was an app to analyse my meals from pictures and estimate the calories/macros, I guess it exists somewhere but…
Zealotux on HN
Objections
LLM-generated nutrition values are unreliable and not real data
From 2 comments
> Final nutritional data is generated by providing a reasoning model with a large corpus of grounding data. The LLM is tasked with creating complete nutritional values,…
Cheer2171 on HN>> User-generated databases can be unreliable >> Foods discovered via these searches are fed back into the database, Aren’t LLMs also unreliable? How do you ensure the new…
yamihere on HN
Specific entries have wrong values (eggs choline, honey bunches, bacon)
From 3 comments
Just at a quick glance... How can a large egg (50 g) contain 147 g choline? https://www.opennutrition.app/search/eggs-eeG7JQCQipwf Additionally, on…
johnisgood on HNLLM 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.
bhatfiel on HNVery cool! Data needs some curation however. Search "Bacon" for example and you'll see raw bacon with 95kcal and 4g of protein while cooked bacon says 153kcal and 10g of protein.
dudeabidez on HN
Search and filter bugs
From 1 comment
The search is broken on safari, every time it refreshes you lose the focus on the text input, which means you have to click on the search bar after every single character you…
lm28469 on HN
Requests
API access
From 1 comment
Super cool. Would you consider an API?
volkk on HN
Per 100g and portion scaling in the web view
From 2 comments
> Could you possibly add an option to see the nutrient content per 100g serving? In the top-right of the table in the web search, you can change the toggle from "Per Serving" to…
joshdickson on HNThank you for your feedback. > If I can join the endless queue of feature requests, the ability to scale the portion size and update the nutrition facts would be great This is…
joshdickson on HN
Recipe URL import
From 1 comment
Thank you for your feedback. > If I can join the endless queue of feature requests, the ability to scale the portion size and update the nutrition facts would be great This is…
joshdickson on HN
Questions
How does this differ from OpenFoodFacts
From 2 comments
What's the main difference between this and OpenFoodFacts really ?
adamas on HNOpenFoodFacts is a huge inspiration to this project, obviously. However, as someone with a normal diet, OFF lacks: 1. Generic, non-branded foods 2. Simple prepared foods that…
joshdickson on HN
How micronutrient estimates are derived
From 1 comment
Overall, very cool and seriously much needed! How does the micronutrient estimation work? Or is that part of the secret sauce? I was looking at this page:…
octotep on HN
Alternatives named
OpenFoodFacts
From 2 comments
What's the main difference between this and OpenFoodFacts really ?
adamas on HNReal and open nutritional datasources exist: https://support.cronometer.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018239472-Data-Sources
briandoll on HN
Cronometer
From 1 comment
Real and open nutritional datasources exist: https://support.cronometer.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018239472-Data-Sources
briandoll on HN