How a dietician uses Open Food Facts on a daily basis
Émilie Goulard, a dietitian specializing in pediatrics at Reims University Hospital, uses Open Food Facts as a health education tool for her young patients with type 1 diabetes or metabolic diseases.
“It’s a simple, clear, and very accessible educational tool, which greatly facilitates our health education mission.”
Open Food Facts, used daily by healthcare professionals
- An educational tool for deciphering products
During therapeutic education sessions, Émilie uses Open Food Facts as an interactive tool to learn how to decode the information on food products. This allows children to better understand the composition of what they consume on a daily basis.
- A reliable basis for comparative analyses between products and proposing tailored nutritional programs
“As a registered dietitian and nutritionist, I rely primarily on Ciqual, a veritable professional “bible,” regularly updated and highly accurate. That said, your site complements this database in a very relevant way, particularly thanks to the specific information by brand and the composition differences between equivalent products, which allows us to conduct effective comparative analyses.”
“When supporting patients with metabolic diseases, particularly those on ketogenic diets, Open Food Facts helps me both calculate recipes and choose products.”
Émilie particularly appreciates being able to export data for certain products to compare and analyze them using a spreadsheet—which makes data manipulation easier (filters, sorting, etc.).
“It’s possible to export the results of a search, for example, on Blédina products, in Excel format. The site then provides the product types, associated references, all nutritional values, and portion sizes when specified. This data can be easily used in a spreadsheet, which is a real added benefit.”
- A valuable aid in estimating intake
Open Food Facts also allows us to reliably estimate food consumption when analyzing food diaries.
“The nutritional values you provide allow us to perform reliable calculations tailored to the specific needs of our patients.”
A tool also appreciated by patients
“Patients themselves are very satisfied, especially during diabetes education sessions, because your website and app allow them to:
- Calculate the carbohydrates in a food for a personalized portion,
- Directly adjust the quantity in the nutritional table,
Which is extremely helpful, especially for those who have difficulty with calculations.”
The importance of Data Transparency
Émilie emphasizes how free access to Open Food Facts data is essential in a hospital and educational setting:
“I strongly encourage you not to restrict access to your data. It is a valuable resource for healthcare professionals, and its free availability contributes to better nutritional care.”
👉 Are you a healthcare professional using Open Food Facts?
Don’t hesitate to write to us at contact@openfoodfacts.org; we would be delighted to share your use and work with you to develop even more useful tools. 🙂