USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Foods API

openapi: 3.0.1
info:
  title: USDA Ag Data Commons CKAN Datasets Foods API
  description: The USDA Ag Data Commons is an agricultural research data repository powered by DKAN/CKAN. The API provides metadata discovery for datasets from USDA Agricultural Research Service national programs. No authentication required for read access.
  version: '1.0'
  contact:
    name: USDA National Agricultural Library - Ag Data Commons
    url: https://agdatacommons.nal.usda.gov
  license:
    name: CC0 1.0 Universal
    url: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
servers:
- url: https://data.nal.usda.gov
security: []
tags:
- name: Foods
  description: Retrieve food records by FDC ID
paths:
  /food/{fdcId}:
    get:
      tags:
      - Foods
      operationId: getFood
      summary: Get Food by FDC ID
      description: Retrieves detailed nutritional data for a single food identified by its FoodData Central ID (fdcId).
      parameters:
      - name: fdcId
        in: path
        required: true
        description: The unique FoodData Central ID
        schema:
          type: integer
        example: 534358
      - name: format
        in: query
        description: Optional format. Default is abridged; 'full' returns all nutrient data for the food.
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - abridged
          - full
          default: abridged
      - name: nutrients
        in: query
        description: Optional list of nutrient numbers to return
        schema:
          type: array
          items:
            type: integer
        style: form
        explode: false
      - name: api_key
        in: query
        description: Your data.gov API key (can also be passed as X-Api-Key header)
        schema:
          type: string
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Food details
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/FoodItem'
        '404':
          description: Food not found
        '429':
          description: Rate limit exceeded
  /foods:
    get:
      tags:
      - Foods
      operationId: getFoodsGet
      summary: Get Multiple Foods by FDC IDs
      description: Retrieves details for multiple foods specified by FDC IDs.
      parameters:
      - name: fdcIds
        in: query
        required: true
        description: List of FDC IDs (comma-separated, max 20)
        schema:
          type: array
          items:
            type: integer
        style: form
        explode: false
      - name: format
        in: query
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - abridged
          - full
      - name: nutrients
        in: query
        schema:
          type: array
          items:
            type: integer
        style: form
        explode: false
      - name: api_key
        in: query
        schema:
          type: string
      responses:
        '200':
          description: List of food items
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: array
                items:
                  $ref: '#/components/schemas/FoodItem'
    post:
      tags:
      - Foods
      operationId: getFoodsPost
      summary: Get Multiple Foods by FDC IDs (POST)
      description: Retrieves details for multiple foods. POST variant allows larger ID lists.
      requestBody:
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              properties:
                fdcIds:
                  type: array
                  items:
                    type: integer
                  description: List of FDC IDs (max 20)
                format:
                  type: string
                  enum:
                  - abridged
                  - full
                nutrients:
                  type: array
                  items:
                    type: integer
      responses:
        '200':
          description: List of food items
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: array
                items:
                  $ref: '#/components/schemas/FoodItem'
  /foods/list:
    get:
      tags:
      - Foods
      operationId: getFoodsListGet
      summary: List Foods (Paginated Abridged Format)
      description: Returns a paginated list of foods in abridged format.
      parameters:
      - name: dataType
        in: query
        description: Filter by data type
        schema:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
            enum:
            - Foundation
            - Branded
            - Survey (FNDDS)
            - SR Legacy
            - Experimental
        style: form
        explode: false
      - name: pageSize
        in: query
        description: Number of results per page (max 200)
        schema:
          type: integer
          default: 50
          maximum: 200
      - name: pageNumber
        in: query
        description: Page number for pagination
        schema:
          type: integer
          default: 1
      - name: sortBy
        in: query
        description: Sort field
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - dataType.keyword
          - lowercaseDescription.keyword
          - fdcId
          - publishedDate
      - name: sortOrder
        in: query
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - asc
          - desc
      - name: api_key
        in: query
        schema:
          type: string
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Paginated list of foods
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: array
                items:
                  $ref: '#/components/schemas/AbridgedFoodItem'
    post:
      tags:
      - Foods
      operationId: getFoodsListPost
      summary: List Foods (POST)
      requestBody:
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              properties:
                dataType:
                  type: array
                  items:
                    type: string
                pageSize:
                  type: integer
                  default: 50
                pageNumber:
                  type: integer
                  default: 1
                sortBy:
                  type: string
                sortOrder:
                  type: string
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Paginated list of foods
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: array
                items:
                  $ref: '#/components/schemas/AbridgedFoodItem'
components:
  schemas:
    AbridgedFoodNutrient:
      type: object
      properties:
        nutrientId:
          type: integer
        nutrientName:
          type: string
        nutrientNumber:
          type: string
        unitName:
          type: string
        value:
          type: number
    AbridgedFoodItem:
      type: object
      description: Abridged food record
      properties:
        fdcId:
          type: integer
        description:
          type: string
        dataType:
          type: string
        publishedDate:
          type: string
          format: date
        brandOwner:
          type: string
          nullable: true
        foodNutrients:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/AbridgedFoodNutrient'
    FoodNutrient:
      type: object
      description: Nutrient data for a food
      properties:
        nutrientId:
          type: integer
        nutrientName:
          type: string
        nutrientNumber:
          type: string
        unitName:
          type: string
          description: Measurement unit (g, mg, kcal, IU, etc.)
        value:
          type: number
          description: Nutrient amount per 100g
        derivationCode:
          type: string
        derivationDescription:
          type: string
    FoodItem:
      type: object
      description: Detailed food record with nutrients
      properties:
        fdcId:
          type: integer
          description: FoodData Central ID
        description:
          type: string
          description: Food description/name
        dataType:
          type: string
          enum:
          - Foundation
          - Branded
          - Survey (FNDDS)
          - SR Legacy
          - Experimental
        publishedDate:
          type: string
          format: date
        foodNutrients:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/FoodNutrient'
        foodCategory:
          type: string
          nullable: true
        brandOwner:
          type: string
          nullable: true
          description: Brand owner (Branded Foods only)
        ingredients:
          type: string
          nullable: true
          description: Ingredient list (Branded Foods only)
        servingSize:
          type: number
          nullable: true
        servingSizeUnit:
          type: string
          nullable: true
        modifiedDate:
          type: string
          format: date