FoodON: A Global Farm-to-Fork Food OntologyEmma Griffiths1, Damion Dooley2, Pier Luigi Buttigieg3, Robert Hoendorf4, Matthew Lange5, Fiona Brinkman1, Will Hsiao21Dept of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2BC Public Health Lab, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 3Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum fur Polar-und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany, 4Dept of Computer Science, King Abdullah University, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, 5Dept of Food Science and Technology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

Introduction

• Many different food dictionaries used for different purposes, different institutions, different regions

• Lack of a standardized food vocabulary impacts data sharing and research, health and safety, economics, cultural practices and more

FOOD (definition): any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink, or that plants absorb, in order to maintain life and growth.

Development of the FoodON Food OntologyMethods1. Engage Users2. Identify Use Cases3. Harmonize Existing Resources4. Develop data structure

Existing Resources:

www.connectfood.com

AcknowledgementsThis work was supported by funding from Genome Canada, AllerGen NCE and the European Research Council (ABYSS). A travel grant was also awarded to E.G. from ICBO.

Data Structure:

1. Food Safety: source attribution during outbreaks, contamination trace back, risk assessment

2. Nutrition and Chemical Exposure: food additives, nutritive content, diet guidelines

3. Food Allergy: hazard identification, allergy research and policy building

4. Food Security: production, storage, availability, distribution

5. Economics: import/export, trade, purchasing trends

6. Sustainability: ecosystems, food webs

Use Cases:

The FoodON Consortium

A Harmonized Farm-to-Fork Food Ontology will Facilitate Data Sharing between Public Health, Regulatory,

Development and Research Communities Worldwide.

• FoodOn (Food Ontology) Consortium: https://github.com/FoodOntology

Community contributions welcome.Contact us! ega12@sfu.ca

Examine Resources

ResultsUser Engagement:

Interview End Users

FoodON

CliniciansEpidemiologists & Laboratory Analysts Information

Management Systems

Outbreak Investigation Tools

+ =Existing

Ontologies

Ecologists

Public Health Researchers

Food Regulators and Policy Makers

Food Databases

Advocacy Groups

Agricultural Experts

• Structured according to OBO Foundry principles• Proposed upper levels categories: Food composition, pre-

collection (farming), environment, collection features (season, harvesting technology), storage and distribution, culinary preparation and packaging, food safety factors, consumption patterns

Consensus and International Partnerships Are Critical For Wide Adoption of FoodON.

FoodON will require input from multiple

domains.www.cdc.gov