# International Food Code

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{{short description|Unique identifiers}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2026}} 

Many national [food composition databases](/source/food_composition_databases) (FCDB) encode foods with unique codes to enable consistent identification and data exchange. International collaborative efforts such as [Food and Agriculture Organization](/source/Food_and_Agriculture_Organization) [International Network of Food Data Systems](/source/International_Network_of_Food_Data_Systems) (FAO/INFOODS) guidelines recommend unique food identifiers, and secondary resources use a composite identifier format that has been referred to as an '''International Food Code''' ('''IFC''') to reference foods across multiple FCDBs.<ref>{{cite report
 | title       = FAO/INFOODS Guidelines for Checking Food Composition Data prior to the Publication of a User Table/Database – Version 1.0
 | author      = FAO/INFOODS
 | year        = 2012
 | publisher   = Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
 | location    = Rome, Italy
 | url         = https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/food_composition/documents/upload/Guidelines_data_checking.pdf
 | access-date = 25 February 2026
 | type        = Technical guideline/manual
 | work        = FAO/INFOODS Standards and Guidelines
}}</ref>

== Structure of an IFC ==

An IFC begins with a database identifier: An [ISO 3166-1 alpha-2](/source/ISO_3166-1_alpha-2) code which identifies the source country, followed by a two digit code which represents the year of publication of the source database. A dot is usually used to separate the database identifier from the food code used by the publisher. The publisher's code can be up to 8 characters long, so the maximum length for an IFC is 12 characters, excluding the optional dot.

== Examples ==
; GB15.14-318 : The code above shows "''Bananas, flesh only''" from UK published "''COFIDS Includes McCance & Widdowson 2021''"<ref>{{cite report
 | title        = McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset 2021
 | author       = Public Health England
 | year         = 2021
 | publisher    = GOV.UK (UK Government)
 | url          = https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60538e66d3bf7f03249bac58/McCance_and_Widdowsons_Composition_of_Foods_integrated_dataset_2021.pdf
 | access-date  = 8 March 2026
 | type         = User guide / database documentation
 | location     = United Kingdom
}}</ref>
; IE09.5068 : The code above shows "''Porridge, made with low fat milk''" from Irish published "''Irish Food Composition database 2009''"
; US15.15083 : The code above shows "''Fish, salmon, pink, raw''" from US published "''United States Department of Agriculture, SR28 2015''"<ref>{{cite report
 | title        = Composition of Foods: USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 28 — Documentation and User Guide
 | author       = U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Nutrient Data Laboratory
 | year         = 2015
 | publisher    = U.S. Department of Agriculture
 | url          = https://www.ars.usda.gov/arsuserfiles/80400525/data/sr/sr28/sr28_doc.pdf
 | access-date  = 8 March 2026
 | location     = Beltsville, Maryland, United States
 | type         = Technical documentation / database user guide
}}</ref>

== Use on Barcodes and numeric systems ==
A common variation on the IFC structure is to replace the leading [ISO 3166-1 alpha-2](/source/ISO_3166-1_alpha-2) letters with their [https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#search numeric equivalents]. The publisher's code is then prefixed with leading zeros and the dot is excluded to create a 13 digit code. This allows the IFC to be used as a [Universal Product Code](/source/Universal_Product_Code) for [barcode](/source/barcode) identification.

Example:
'''GB15.14-318''' becomes '''8261500014318'''

==References==
{{reflist}}

Category:Unique identifiers

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [International Food Code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Food_Code) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Food_Code?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.