Government lab analyses
USDA FoodData Central, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s nutrient analyses, is the backbone of the everyday foods in Loopa: fruit, vegetables, meat, grains and dairy.
Food data
Where every food in Loopa comes from.
A calorie count is only as good as the entry behind it. Loopa draws on several kinds of food data, keeps a record of which one each food came from, and lets anyone fix an entry that looks wrong.
Included in Loopa Basic Searching, scanning and reporting a food are free on every plan.
The sources
Four kinds of food data, one list
No single database has everything. Government analyses are strongest on plain foods, barcode databases on the packet in your cupboard, and restaurant menus live somewhere else again. Loopa searches them together and removes the duplicates, so you are not choosing between four versions of the same yogurt.
Barcodes and labels
An open, contributor-maintained database of packaged products supplies barcodes and the ingredient text printed on the packet, which is what lets Loopa read a label when you scan it.
Brands and restaurants
A licensed catalogue of branded, supermarket and chain-restaurant items covers the foods you buy rather than cook.
Loopa’s own records
Curated entries, the foods you have saved, and corrections members have reported. Every answer found elsewhere is kept here too, so the next search for it is instant.
Every named database is listed in the health sources register
One food, one answer
When Loopa has to pick, it asks in a fixed order
Searching gives you a list to choose from. Scanning a barcode, or a search that finds nothing close, needs one answer with nobody there to pick. Loopa works down the sources in this order and stops at the first one that genuinely knows the food.
1. Loopa’s own recordsSaved foods, corrections, and every food looked up before.
2. Brands and restaurantsBranded, packaged and restaurant items.
3. Government analysesUSDA FoodData Central.
4. Supplement labelsFor a vitamin or supplement, which has a label rather than macros.
5. An AI estimateOnly when nothing above knows the food, and labelled as an estimate.
Sources state figures differently, some per serving and some per 100 g. Loopa converts to the serving shown before anything reaches your diary, so the number you log is the number for the amount you ate.
Corrections
Built to be corrected
In a crowdsourced database anyone can add an entry, so one food can appear many times with different numbers. Loopa merges its sources into one list and puts the effort into fixing the entries that are there.
“Is this right?” on every food
Under each food’s nutrition label there are two answers. Yes records that the entry looked right to somebody who ate it, which is how a food earns confidence over time. No flags it.
Suggest the real numbers
When you flag a food you can give a reason and fill in the figures you believe are right, from the packet in your hand. A correction with numbers on it is acted on fastest.
One report changes search
A flagged food is re-checked against its sources straight away, and search stops trusting it and goes looking for a better entry. When one is found it replaces the flagged entry for everybody, not just for you.
Reviewed, not just collected
Every report also goes to a reviewer, and you can see on the label whether a food you flagged is still under review.
Where the numbers come from
Three kinds of number, and Loopa tells them apart
A lab analysis and a best guess are both useful, and they are not the same kind of fact.
From a product recordRead off a packet, a government analysis or a published product record.
You entered itA food or a number you typed yourself. Loopa keeps it exactly as you gave it.
EstimatedWorked out by AI when no source knows the food. It is labelled as an estimate wherever it appears.
Keep reading
More on logging food
Barcode scanner Scan a packet and its nutrition panel lands in your log. Free, with no daily cap.
Food logging The five ways to log a meal, and which cost nothing.
Reading a nutrition label What the panel tells you, and what it cannot.
Compare trackers Loopa beside other health and fitness trackers, with sources.
FAQ
Questions about the food data
What people ask before trusting a calorie number.
Where does Loopa’s food data come from?
Four places: USDA FoodData Central for plain foods, an open database of packaged products for barcodes and labels, a licensed catalogue of branded and restaurant items, and Loopa’s own records, which include corrections members have reported. The health sources register names every database.
How accurate is Loopa’s food database?
Each entry is as accurate as its source, and Loopa keeps a record of which source that is. Lab analyses and packet labels are measured figures. An AI estimate is used only when no source knows the food, and it is labelled as one. Any entry can be reported and corrected.
What happens when I report a food?
The food is re-checked against its sources straight away, search stops trusting the flagged entry and looks for a better one, and the report goes to a reviewer. A correction that is found replaces the entry for everybody.
Does it cost anything to report or confirm a food?
No. Reporting a wrong entry and confirming a right one are free on every plan, and so are food search and barcode scanning.
Log food from sources you can check.
Search, scan and report foods free, with no ads and no daily cap on logging.