FDA food defect levels handbook

How many rat hairs in your macaroni before the FDA considers it adulterated? The FDA food defect levels handbook can tell you!

This little project scrapes the main data table from this handbook into a JSON file.

Each record in the JSON array includes:

• commodity: The name of the commodity
• defect_action_levels: An array of objects showing each defect action level for this commodity
• defect_action_levels.defect_name: The name of the defect, e.g. "Insect Filth"
• defect_action_levels.action_level: The level at which the FDA considers the commodity adulturated by this defect, e.g. "Average of 30 or more insect fragments per 10 grams"
• defect_action_levels.method: The FDA's code for the analytical methodology used to measure the defect, e.g. "AOAC 981.21"
• defect_action_levels.method_link: If available, a link to an FDA page with more detail on the methodology
• defect_source: Where the defect is typically discovered, e.g. "Insect fragments - pre/post harvest and processing insect infestation. Rodent hair - post harvest and/or processing contamination with animal hair or excreta"
• significance: Per FDA, "the real or potential impact on the consumer due to the presence of a particular defect," e.g. "Aesthetic"