[1] For each item, the database stores its generic name, quantity, type of packaging, brand, category, manufacturing or processing locations, countries and stores where the product is sold, list of ingredients, any traces (for allergies, dietary laws or any specific diet), food additives and nutritional information.

[13] As a result, the GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) embedded in the barcode on the packaging of the product (when available) is generally used as the identifier.

Due to similar mechanisms for modification, extension, or deletion of content and structure, the project is sometimes compared to Wikipedia in the media.

Open Food Facts also benefits from the support of Santé publique France for its health role on the Nutri-Score, from the European Commission via the NLNet program for open-source and from the philanthropic branch of Google, Google.org, for its impact on the environment.

[23] In April 2021, Open Food Facts received a grant of 1.1 million euros as well as the volunteer support of 10 Google employees for a period of 6 months for the development of the new mobile application as well as the calculation of the Eco-score thanks to Machine Learning[24] · .

[25] Open Food Facts and OpenFDA are two initiatives that provide access to food-related data, though they differ in scope and origin.