fatsecret Platform API Documentation

Profile - Foods: Create

Description

Creates a food for the user according to the parameters specified. The result of the call is the new unique identifier of the newly created food.

Updates to food labels

On May 27, 2016 the USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published new rules on the new Nutrition Facts label for packaged foods to reflect new scientific information, including the link between diet and chronic diseases such as obesity and heart disease.

Manufacturers in the USA with $10 million or more in annual sales were required to switch to the new label by January 1, 2020; manufacturers with less than $10 million in annual food sales have until January 1, 2021 to comply.

More information can be found here: Changes to the Nutrition Facts Label

Please find more information on how to calculate the %DV for your users: Dietary Supplement Label Database

What are the differences between food.create and food.create.v2?

food.create	food.create.v2
The Vitamin A value is the percentage of daily recommended. It is based on a 2000 calorie diet.	The Vitamin A value is the raw value in micrograms (mcg). It is up to the developer to calculate the %DV (Percent Daily Value)
The Vitamin C value is the percentage of daily recommended. It is based on a 2000 calorie diet.	The Vitamin C value is the raw value in milligrams (mg). It is up to the developer to calculate the %DV
The Calcium value is the percentage of daily recommended. It is based on a 2000 calorie diet.	The Calcium value is the raw value in milligrams (mg). It is up to the developer to calculate the %DV
The Iron value is the percentage of daily recommended. It is based on a 2000 calorie diet.	The Iron value is the raw value in milligrams (mg). It is up to the developer to calculate the %DV
---	Vitamin D is the raw value in micrograms (mcg).
---	Added Sugars is the raw value in grams (g). It is new for our food_type = "Brand"

Parameters

URL / Method

NAME	TYPE	REQUIRED	DESCRIPTION
URL (new) Method	N/A	Required	"https://platform.fatsecret.com/rest/food/v2" HTTP "POST"
OR
method	String	Required	"food.create.v2" (included with other parameters)

Additional Parameters

NAME	TYPE	REQUIRED	DESCRIPTION
brand_type	String	Required	Either "manufacturer", "restaurant" or "supermarket" (default value is "manufacturer")
brand_name	String	Required	Brand name, only when food_type is "Brand". E.G.: "Quaker"
food_name	String	Required	Name of the food, not including the brand name. E.G.: "Instant Oatmeal"
serving_size	String	Required	Full description of the serving size. E.G.: "1 serving"
calories	Decimal	Required	Energy content in kcal
fat	Decimal	Required	Total fat content in grams
carbohydrate	Decimal	Required	Total carbohydrate content in grams
protein	Decimal	Required	Protein content in grams
serving_amount	String	Optional	The quantity combined with serving_amount_unit to derive the total standardized quantity of the serving
serving_amount_unit	String	Optional	The metric unit of measure for the serving size – either "g" or "ml" or "oz" – combined with metric_serving_amount to derive the total standardized quantity of the serving (default value is "g")
calories_from_fat	Decimal	Optional	The energy content in kcal from fat
saturated_fat	Decimal	Optional	Saturated fat content in grams (where available)
polyunsaturated_fat	Decimal	Optional	Polyunsaturated fat content in grams (where available)
monounsaturated_fat	Decimal	Optional	Monounsaturated fat content in grams (where available)
trans_fat	Decimal	Optional	Trans fat content in grams (where available)
cholesterol	Decimal	Optional	Cholesterol content in milligrams (where available)
sodium	Decimal	Optional	Sodium content in milligrams (where available)
potassium	Decimal	Optional	Potassium content in milligrams (where available)
fiber	Decimal	Optional	Fiber content in grams (where available)
sugar	Decimal	Optional	Sugar content in grams (where available)
added_sugars	Decimal	Optional	Added Sugars content in grams (where available)
vitamin_d	Decimal	Optional	Vitamin D content in micrograms (where available)
vitamin_a	Decimal	Optional	Vitamin A content in micrograms (where available)
vitamin_c	Decimal	Optional	Vitamin C content in milligrams (where available)
calcium	Decimal	Optional	Calcium content in milligrams (where available)
iron	Decimal	Optional	Iron content in milligrams (where available)
region	String	Optional	Results will be filtered by region. E.G.: "FR" returns results from France
language	String	Optional	(Ignored unless region is also specified) Results will be in the specified language. E.G.: "fr" returns results in French
format	String	Optional	The desired response format. Valid response formats are "xml" or "json" (default value is "xml").

Response

The only storable value returned by this call is food_id.

Each food_id element contains information as follows:

NAME	TYPE	DESCRIPTION
food_id	Long	Unique food identifier

Example Response

Example 1:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<food_id xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns="http://platform.fatsecret.com/api/1.0/"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://platform.fatsecret.com/api/1.0/ http://platform.fatsecret.com/api/1.0/fatsecret.xsd">
    1111111
</food_id>