FoodData Central · Example Payload

Search Foods

Example request and response for searching foods using POST /v1/foods/search with keyword query

HealthPublic APIs

Search Foods is an example object payload from FoodData Central, with 4 top-level fields. It illustrates the shape of data this provider's APIs accept or return.

Top-level fields

summarydescriptionrequestresponse

Example Payload

{
  "summary": "Search for foods by keyword",
  "description": "Example request and response for searching foods using POST /v1/foods/search with keyword query",
  "request": {
    "method": "POST",
    "url": "https://api.nal.usda.gov/fdc/v1/foods/search?api_key=DEMO_KEY",
    "headers": {
      "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    "body": {
      "query": "cheddar cheese",
      "dataType": ["Foundation", "SR Legacy"],
      "pageSize": 10,
      "pageNumber": 1,
      "sortBy": "dataType.keyword",
      "sortOrder": "asc"
    }
  },
  "response": {
    "status": 200,
    "body": {
      "foodSearchCriteria": {
        "query": "cheddar cheese",
        "dataType": ["Foundation", "SR Legacy"],
        "pageSize": 10,
        "pageNumber": 1,
        "sortBy": "dataType.keyword",
        "sortOrder": "asc"
      },
      "totalHits": 42,
      "currentPage": 1,
      "totalPages": 5,
      "foods": [
        {
          "fdcId": 328637,
          "dataType": "Foundation",
          "description": "Cheese, cheddar",
          "ndbNumber": "1009",
          "publicationDate": "4/1/2019",
          "scientificName": null,
          "score": 932.52,
          "foodNutrients": [
            {
              "number": 1003,
              "name": "Protein",
              "amount": 24.9,
              "unitName": "g",
              "derivationCode": "A",
              "derivationDescription": "Analytical"
            },
            {
              "number": 1004,
              "name": "Total lipid (fat)",
              "amount": 33.14,
              "unitName": "g",
              "derivationCode": "A",
              "derivationDescription": "Analytical"
            },
            {
              "number": 1005,
              "name": "Carbohydrate, by difference",
              "amount": 1.28,
              "unitName": "g",
              "derivationCode": "NC",
              "derivationDescription": "Calculated"
            },
            {
              "number": 1008,
              "name": "Energy",
              "amount": 403,
              "unitName": "kcal",
              "derivationCode": "NC",
              "derivationDescription": "Calculated"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "fdcId": 173414,
          "dataType": "SR Legacy",
          "description": "Cheese, cheddar",
          "ndbNumber": "1009",
          "publicationDate": "4/1/2019",
          "score": 912.15,
          "foodNutrients": [
            {
              "number": 1003,
              "name": "Protein",
              "amount": 24.9,
              "unitName": "g",
              "derivationCode": "A",
              "derivationDescription": "Analytical"
            },
            {
              "number": 1004,
              "name": "Total lipid (fat)",
              "amount": 33.14,
              "unitName": "g",
              "derivationCode": "A",
              "derivationDescription": "Analytical"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Work with this as data

Every example here is available over the APIs.io API and to AI agents over MCP.

MCP server

One button, every client — Claude, Cursor, VS Code and the rest.

https://apis.io/mcp

Tools for examples

4 MCP tools reach this

find_examplesBrowse and filter every example in the catalog.
apis_io_searchSTART HERE — APIs, providers and tags for one query, each with its total.
resolveTurn a domain, URL or GitHub org into the provider it belongs to.
find_cohortsEvery scored population of providers in the catalog.

All 92 tools

Call it yourself

curl for this page

This example

curl "https://apis.io/api/v1/examples/search-foods"

All examples

curl "https://apis.io/api/v1/examples?limit=25"

Discovery needs no key. Ratings and market analysis are Pro.

Get an API key

Free tier, no email required.

GitHub Google LinkedIn

A second provider on the same verified email joins the account you already have.