FOODS: A Food-Oriented Ontology-Driven System

In this paper the authors present the design and development of a counseling system for food or menu planning in a restaurant, clinic/hospital, or at home, the food-oriented ontology-driven system (FOODS). FOODS comprises (a) a food ontology, (b) an expert system using the ontology, and some knowledge about cooking methods and prices, and (c) a user interface suitable for novices in computers and diets as well as for experts. The ontology contains specifications of ingredients, substances, nutrition facts, recommended daily intakes for different regions, dishes, and menus. The expert system assists in finding the appropriate dish or menu for the consumer, client or customer, who use FOODS by entering their favorite ingredients, ingredients to avoid, favorite flavors, and so on. In the health section users can provide their gender, age, height and weight, which will be used to calculate such data as the body mass index. With FOODS enterprises can assist customers through an appropriate suggestion of dishes and meals with the help of individual nutritional profiles. SMEs that might be interested in using FOODS are institutions for training and instruction of cooking, restaurants, clinics, hospitals, together with clinical and therapeutical dietitians and nutritional therapists. In the long run such systems might become part of the emerging consumer health informatics portfolio.