Roots by Benda — Food Safety & Regulatory Intelligence MCP Server

Food additive safety, nutrition, and pesticide residue data in one MCP. Check any E-number, food additive, or ingredient against JECFA/EFSA evaluations, ADI limits, allergen flags, dietary compatibility (halal/kosher/vegan), Israeli nutrition profiles, and pesticide MRLs — all source-linked and free.

Equivalent data through commercial food safety platforms (FoodNavigator Pro, Decernis) costs $15,000+/year. This MCP is free.

Live endpoint: https://food-mcp-server.rootsbybenda.workers.dev/mcp SSE fallback: https://food-mcp-server.rootsbybenda.workers.dev/sse

Tools

`check_additive`

Look up a food additive by name, E-number, or CAS number. Returns safety score, ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake), JECFA/EFSA evidence, EU/US/Israel regulatory status, health concerns, allergens, and vegan/halal/kosher compatibility.

query: "E171"
→ Titanium Dioxide; Safety: 3/10 (high concern); ADI: not established (EFSA 2021 withdrawal);
  EU: banned as food additive (2022); US: permitted ≤1%; Concerns: genotoxicity (nano)

`check_ingredient_list`

Scan a packaged-food ingredient list for additive safety and regulatory flags. Returns matched additives, high-risk scores, banned-country notes, allergen warnings, dietary compatibility issues, and an overall food safety assessment.

ingredients: "Sugar, E150d, E621, Citric Acid, E211"
→ Risk: MODERATE — E211 (sodium benzoate) flagged for benzene formation with ascorbic acid;
  E621 (MSG) sensitivity concern; E150d (caramel IV) has 4-MEI limit

`search_additives`

Search food additives by keyword, category, function, dietary status, or health concern. Use for finding preservatives, colorants, sweeteners, allergens, banned additives, or high-risk E-numbers.

query: "banned preservative" → matches BHA (E320), potassium bromate, etc.

`check_nutrition`

Look up Israeli Ministry of Health nutrition data for a food item in Hebrew or English. Returns per-100g calories, macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, cholesterol, sugars, and fiber.

query: "חומוס" → Calories: 166kcal, Protein: 8.0g, Fat: 9.6g, Carbs: 14.3g, Fiber: 6.0g

`check_pesticide_mrl`

Check Israeli pesticide maximum residue limits (MRLs) by pesticide, crop, or combined query. Returns active substance, crop, official MRL value in mg/kg, update date, and pending-change notes.

query: "glyphosate wheat" → MRL: 10.0 mg/kg; Status: active; Updated: 2023

Data

Dataset	Records
Food additives (curated)	6,450+
JECFA evaluations	6,563+
EFSA substance records	5,251+
Additive synonyms	77,278+
Israeli nutrition profiles (MoH)	4,624
Pesticide MRLs (Israel)	3,708

100% source-traceability: every record links to JECFA, EFSA, Codex Alimentarius, or national authority primary sources.

Sources: JECFA (WHO/FAO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives), EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), Codex Alimentarius, Israeli Ministry of Health, EU Regulation 1333/2008, FDA GRAS, Israel Plant Protection Service.

Quick Start

Claude Desktop / Claude Code

Add to your MCP config:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "roots-food-safety": {
      "url": "https://food-mcp-server.rootsbybenda.workers.dev/sse"
    }
  }
}

Cursor / Windsurf / Zed

Use the Streamable HTTP endpoint:

https://food-mcp-server.rootsbybenda.workers.dev/mcp

Rate Limits

Every caller receives full data; a 60 requests/minute abuse-prevention limit applies per IP.

Built With

Cloudflare Workers + Agents SDK
Cloudflare D1 (SQLite at the edge)
Durable Objects (session-scoped rate limiting)
Model Context Protocol (MCP)

Who Built This

Roots by Benda — regulatory intelligence platform built by Shahar Ben-David with Claude. Food safety database assembled from primary sources across JECFA, EFSA, Codex Alimentarius, Israeli MoH, and FDA.