Scientific sources
The right food database for every country
Pappai doesn't rely on one generic table: for every country you work in, food search is routed to that country's official food composition database, when one exists under a licence that allows us to use it.
How it works
Automatic routing by country
When a diet plan or a meal log searches for a food, Pappai looks at the nutritionist's studio country and queries that country's national database first; if the food isn't there, it falls back to USDA FoodData Central, Open Food Facts and hand-curated custom entries — the same fallback order for every country not yet covered by a national source.
Current coverage
Countries with an integrated national database
Every source is integrated only after verifying its commercial-use licence — in some cases with explicit written authorisation from the owning body.
Italy
CREA 2019 · ~1.150 foods
CREA — Italian public research body
France
CIQUAL 2020 · ~3.183 foods
ANSES/Etalab 2.0 — open licence
Germany
BLS 4.0 · ~7.140 foods
Max Rubner-Institut, CC BY 4.0
United Kingdom
CoFID 2021 · ~2.887 foods
UKHSA, Open Government Licence v3
Spain
BEDCA v1.0 · ~2.214 foods
AESAN/BEDCA — written authorisation for commercial use
Switzerland
naehrwertdaten.ch V7.0 · ~1.220 foods
FSVO/BLV — commercial use explicitly authorised
Netherlands
NEVO 2025/9.0 · ~2.328 foods
RIVM — commercial use authorised
Norway
Matvaretabellen · ~2.121 foods
Mattilsynet, Norwegian Licence for Open Government Data 2.0
Finland
Fineli · ~4.051 foods
THL/Fineli, CC BY 4.0
Sweden
Livsmedelsverket · ~2.575 foods
Livsmedelsverket, CC BY 4.0
Lebanon
WHO EMRO + Lebanese University · 65 foods
WHO EMRO + Lebanese University — direct lab analyses (2021)
Denmark
Frida 6.1 · ~1.390 foods
DTU/Figshare, CC BY 4.0
Portugal
PortFIR/TCA v7.1 · ~1.376 foods
INSA — written authorisation for commercial use
In countries not yet listed here, search still runs on USDA FoodData Central + Open Food Facts + curated custom entries — never an empty database.
In progress
Coming next
For these countries food search still runs on international sources (USDA, Open Food Facts) while we work on adding a dedicated national database.
Ireland
Japan
Poland
Romania
Czech Republic
Iceland
Mandatory attributions shown in-app for foreign sources: ANSES/CIQUAL, Max Rubner-Institut/BLS, UKHSA/OGL v3, Mattilsynet/NLOD, THL/Fineli, Livsmedelsverket, FSVO/BLV (naehrwertdaten.ch), RIVM (NEVO), AESAN/BEDCA, WHO EMRO/Lebanese University, DTU (Frida), INSA (PortFIR).
Don't see your country?
Even without a dedicated national database, Pappai still covers food search with reliable international sources.