What Feeds the World
Explore nutrition data for 2,000 curated foods with 113 nutrients harmonized from three databases, track global dietary patterns across 180+ countries, and discover how what we eat connects to how we live and die. The companion to the Human Mortality Explorer.
Three Layers of Nutrition Data
Food Database
2,000 curated foods with 113 nutrients each, harmonized from USDA Foundation Foods, AFCD, and SR Legacy. Search, compare, and explore complete profiles.
Global Diet Atlas
What 200 countries eat, how diets have changed since 1961, and the nutrition transition unfolding worldwide.
Diet-Disease Connection
How dietary risk factors contribute to millions of deaths worldwide. 25 risk factors, 204 countries, 1990-2023.
Deep Dives
The Nutrition Transition
How the world changed its diet over 60 years. Meat doubled, oils tripled, pulses disappeared.
How Poor Diet Kills
6.4 million deaths per year from dietary risk factors. The 5 deadliest dietary patterns.
Correlation Explorer
Scatter plots showing how national diets relate to health outcomes across 170+ countries.
Global Diet Quiz
Can you guess what the world eats? 10 questions about global dietary patterns.
Deficiency Atlas
4 billion people affected by hidden hunger. Iron, iodine, zinc, and vitamin deficiency by region.
Planetary Health Diet
The EAT-Lancet reference diet: how to feed 10 billion people without destroying the planet.
Cost of Nutrition
3.1 billion people can't afford a healthy diet. $3.96/day — the price of eating well.
Bioactive Compounds
Beyond vitamins: polyphenols, carotenoids, glucosinolates, and 30+ compounds in your food.
Popular Foods
Browse by Nutrient
Click any nutrient to see the top food sources and daily requirements.
Macronutrients
Vitamins
Minerals
Carotenoids
Fats & Fatty Acids
Other
Popular Food Comparisons
Pre-built side-by-side nutrient comparisons for commonly compared foods. Or build your own comparison.
Compare Countries
Side-by-side dietary comparisons of the world's largest and most interesting food cultures. Powered by FAO Food Balance Sheets.
About the Human Nutrition Explorer
The Human Nutrition Explorer is a free, open-data platform that brings together food composition, global dietary patterns, and diet-disease connections in one interactive tool. It was built to make the world's best nutrition data accessible to everyone — from students and home cooks to dietitians and researchers.
The food database includes 2,000 individually curated foods with up to 113 nutrients each, harmonized from three independent databases (USDA Foundation Foods, the Australian Food Composition Database, and USDA SR Legacy). Each food page features macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, amino acid profiles, fatty acid breakdowns, glycemic index, insulin index, nutrient density scores, environmental impact data, and more.
The global layer draws on FAO Food Balance Sheets (covering 184 countries from 1961 to the present) and the Global Burden of Disease Study from IHME (25 dietary risk factors, 204 countries, 1990-2023). Together, these datasets reveal how national dietary patterns connect to population health outcomes at a global scale.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes this different from other nutrition databases?
Most nutrition websites show basic macros from a single database. The Human Nutrition Explorer harmonizes data from three independent food composition databases (USDA Foundation Foods, AFCD, and SR Legacy) and layers on glycemic index, insulin index, nutrient density scores (NRF9.3), complete amino acid and fatty acid profiles, environmental impact data (Poore & Nemecek 2018), bioactive compounds, and global dietary context — all on a single food page. The global layer adds country-level dietary patterns and diet-disease connections that no other free tool provides.
Where does the data come from?
Food composition data comes from USDA FoodData Central (public domain, CC0) and the Australian Food Composition Database from FSANZ (CC BY 4.0). Global dietary data is from FAO Food Balance Sheets. Health outcome data is from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation's Global Burden of Disease Study. Environmental impact data is from Poore & Nemecek's 2018 meta-analysis published in Science. All sources are peer-reviewed or government-maintained and freely available.
Is this tool free to use?
Yes, completely. The Human Nutrition Explorer is free to use, share, and cite. All data is provided under open licenses (CC0 for USDA data, CC BY 4.0 for AFCD and derived datasets). Charts and visualizations can be embedded on external websites. For data sources and methodology, visit the Press & Methodology page.
How often is the data updated?
The food database is updated when new releases are published by USDA FoodData Central or FSANZ AFCD. The global dietary data follows the FAO publication schedule (typically updated annually with a 2-3 year lag). The GBD health data is updated with each new IHME release. New curated food pages and additional data layers are added on an ongoing basis.
Can I use this for academic research?
Yes. The underlying datasets are the same ones used in published nutrition research, epidemiological studies, and policy reports. Please cite the Human Nutrition Explorer alongside the original data sources when using data from this platform. For the food database, cite USDA FoodData Central; for global data, cite FAO and IHME GBD; for environmental data, cite Poore & Nemecek (2018).
Who built this?
The Human Nutrition Explorer was built by Paddy Farrell at TriageMethod. It is a solo project — data processing, curation, design, and development are all done by one person. If you spot data issues, bugs, or have suggestions, please get in touch.