Questions it answers
Look up a packaged food by its barcode, search for products, compare them side by side and check a product's listed allergens.
Ask "what is in the product with barcode 3017620422003?", "find oat milks sold in France", "which of these three barcodes has the least sugar?" or "does this product contain milk or nuts?".
Food Facts reads Open Food Facts, a free database that people around the world add to by scanning and photographing labels.
A product answer shows the name, brand, size, ingredients, the allergens and traces the entry lists, the Nutri-Score and NOVA group when known, and nutrition per 100 g (energy, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugars, fibre, protein, salt and sodium).
Because the data is crowd-sourced, it can be incomplete, wrong or out of date, and recipes change. Every answer says how complete the entry looks and reminds you that the physical label wins, especially for allergies.
The allergen check reads the entry's listed allergen tags and its ingredients text. It is a data lookup, not a safety guarantee, and not dietary or medical advice.
Coverage is strongest in France and Europe and thinner in the US and Asia. For recalls of food products, use the Recalls plugin.
Data © Open Food Facts contributors, available under the Open Database Licence (ODbL) v1.0. It stores nothing about you: answers are cached for a few hours, and the only lasting record is a daily count of calls per tool.
What it can do
- Looks up a product by EAN or UPC barcode after checking the barcode's check digit
- Shows ingredients, listed allergens and traces, Nutri-Score and NOVA group
- Shows nutrition per 100 g: energy, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugars, fibre, protein, salt, sodium
- Searches products by name or brand, optionally limited to a country
- Compares up to five products by sugars, salt or energy per 100 g
- Checks a product's listed allergens against the ones you want to avoid
- Says how complete the entry is and reminds you to check the physical label
Tools
lookup_barcode, Look up a barcode. Use this when the user gives a product barcode (EAN or UPC) and wants to know what is in it, such as "what is in 3017620422003?". Returns the product name, brands, quantity, ingredients text, the allergens and traces the entry lists, Nutri-Score, NOVA group, nutrition per 100 g, a data-quality note and the Open Food Facts link. The barcode check digit is verified first. The data is crowd-sourced and may be incomplete or wrong: check the physical label. Not dietary or medical advice.search_products, Search products. Use this when the user wants to find food products by name or brand, such as "find oat milks" or "Nutella jars in Germany". Pass the words to search for and optionally a country (English name or two-letter code) and a limit of up to 10. Returns each product's barcode, name, brands and Nutri-Score; use lookup_barcode for the full entry.compare_products, Compare products. Use this when the user wants to compare packaged foods, such as "which of these barcodes has the least sugar?". Pass one to five barcodes and optionally sugars (default), salt or kcal. Returns a ranking from lowest to highest per 100 g with each product's other nutrition, Nutri-Score and NOVA group, and lists barcodes that were invalid, not found or lacked data. Crowd-sourced data: check the physical labels.check_allergens, Check allergens. Use this when the user asks whether a product contains certain allergens, such as "does 5449000000996 contain milk or nuts?". Pass the barcode and the allergens to avoid. Returns which are listed as contained, which as possible traces, which are not listed, and whether the entry has no allergen data at all. It reads the entry's allergen tags and ingredients text, which are crowd-sourced and can be wrong: it is a data lookup, not a safety guarantee. The physical label wins.
Add Food Facts in Cursor
Cursor reads MCP servers from mcp.json. A project file at .cursor/mcp.json applies to that project. A user file at ~/.cursor/mcp.json applies everywhere. These steps were checked against the Cursor MCP docs on 2026-10-01. Streamable HTTP is the transport: a url, not a shell command.
Create or edit the file so it contains this server. Merge it with servers you already have. Do not replace the whole file if other servers are listed.
{
"mcpServers": {
"food": {
"url": "https://food.openkrill.app/mcp"
}
}
}No headers and no auth block. Those are for servers that require a token or a pre-registered OAuth client. Food Facts answers without either. Saving the file is the install. Open Cursor Settings, then MCP, and confirm Food Facts is enabled. If it stays disconnected, reload the window. You should see lookup_barcode, search_products, compare_products, check_allergens.
In Agent chat, ask: What is in the product with barcode 3017620422003? Cursor calls the tool over streamable HTTP and shows the arguments before it runs them, depending on your run mode. Approve the call the first time and read the result. The server is public and read-only. It does not see your repository unless the model puts repository text into the arguments, so do not paste secrets into the question.
A one-click Marketplace install does not exist for this server. The JSON above is the whole setup. Team admins can distribute the same url through a team marketplace, but that is an admin step, not something this page can do for you. OAuth redirect URLs in the Cursor docs matter only for servers that require sign-in. Skip them here.
If it does not work
The tool does not show up
Open Cursor Settings, then MCP, and check the server is enabled. If it stays disconnected, reload the window. Check that the entry sits under mcpServers and has a url, not a command.
429 or rate_limited
Each server takes 60 calls a minute from one network, and some tools take fewer. Past that the call comes back as a tool error that starts with rate_limited: wait a minute and ask again. daily_limit means the server reached its shared daily cap, which resets at 00:00 UTC. A limit is not an answer, so do not read it as no results. For higher limits, ask support@openkrill.app for a key.
A call checked on 2026-10-17
3017620422003 is the Nutella barcode in the plugin's starter prompts. The physical label still wins. The request below was posted to https://food.openkrill.app/mcp as tools/call. HTTP 200. Source: the Food Facts server, read 2026-10-17.
{
"method": "tools/call",
"params": {
"name": "lookup_barcode",
"arguments": {
"barcode": "3017620422003"
}
}
}- status. ok
- name. Nutella
- notice. Open Food Facts is crowd-sourced, so entries can be incomplete, wrong or out of date, and manufacturers change recipes. The physical label always wins: check it before you rely on this, especially for an allergy. Not die
- url. https://world.openfoodfacts.org/product/3017620422003
Repeat the call yourself if you need a newer reading. Cached answers expire. A rate limit is not a result: wait and try again. Nothing in the call is a ranking, a filing, or advice.
Using it in production
Nothing to install and nothing to run: no package, no Python or Node.js version and no environment variable. Food Facts runs on our servers, and your client only needs the URL https://food.openkrill.app/mcp.
| Rate limit | 60 tool calls a minute from one network. initialize and tools/list do not count. |
|---|---|
| Daily cap | 25000 tool calls a day per server, shared by every caller. It resets at 00:00 UTC. |
| At a limit | The call comes back as a tool error that starts with rate_limited (wait a minute) or daily_limit (try after 00:00 UTC), never as a partial answer. |
| Key | None. Do not add an Authorization header or a key field. |
| Higher limits | Email support@openkrill.app with the server name, the calls a day you expect and what they are for. We answer within 1 business day. |
| Freshness | Some answers come from a short cache. Each guide shows the date of its checked call; repeat a call when you need a newer reading. |
| Uptime | Scheduled test calls check the servers through the same endpoint. There is no SLA yet. |
| Data | What each server receives and keeps is on the privacy page. |
Use it in other apps
Frequently asked questions
How do I install the Food Facts MCP server in Cursor?
Add food with the url https://food.openkrill.app/mcp under mcpServers in .cursor/mcp.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json and save the file. Then confirm it is enabled in Cursor Settings, then MCP.
Do I need an API key to run Food Facts in Cursor?
No. This server takes no API key. For higher limits, email support@openkrill.app with the server name (Food Facts), the calls a day you expect and what they are for. We answer within 1 business day.
What should I do if Food Facts does not connect in Cursor?
Check that the entry has a url and no command, headers or auth block, then reload the Cursor window and look in Cursor Settings, then MCP.