Data sources

Last updated October 21, 2026

Draft for review. This text follows Calixto's plan and is waiting for legal review before launch.

Where Calixto's food data comes from, the licenses it's under, and how your own foods stay private.

1. USDA FoodData Central

Generic foods (Foundation Foods, SR Legacy, Survey FNDDS) and branded products come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's FoodData Central. The data is in the public domain, under CC0 1.0.

Citation: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2026. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

2. Open Food Facts

Packaged products from around the world come from Open Food Facts, a free database made by its contributors. It is available under the Open Database License (ODbL 1.0); its individual contents under the Database Contents License (DbCL 1.0).

Calixto adapts the data: it keeps products with a name and energy, converts units and servings, and maps nutrients. As the ODbL asks, Calixto offers that adapted database under the ODbL, with the method used to make it. The offer is published monthly on this page once available.

Calixto shows no product images from Open Food Facts.

3. Your own foods

Foods you create are private to you: they show only in your search and your library, never to other people, and they are never sent to Open Food Facts or USDA.