Excerpt from “http://www.npr.org/” :
Next time you need some help deciding what to pick for a midday munch,
try Snack Data, a quirky, illustrated catalogue of foods. Part reference guide,
part art project, it’s the latest idiosyncratic creation of Los Angeles-based
web developer Beau Johnson. The entries are arranged by flavor, cuisine, and
type of food, making it easy to find whatever kind of snack you desire. And for foods
with more than one ingredient, the components are cross-listed to reveal
connections between foods (e.g. Spaghetti & Meatballs – see also: Spaghetti, Meatball).

As an art project, Snack Data has a primal, throw-back feel. Accompanying the
pixelated images arebits of questionable trivia and highly subjective tasting notes —
kind of like a clever middle school kid’s book report on foods from around the world,
not an authoritative reference.Johnson creates the illustrations
using Photoshop, in the blocky style of early-1990s computer games like King’s Quest.
But Johnson, 27, says it wasn’t meant to be retro.”I know it has those associations,”
he says. It’s also meant as a departure from the food photography that saturates the
Internet, he adds. For the text, Johnson pulls facts from Wikipedia or simply invents
his own, like “the hot dog bun can be thought of as an edible glove” and “taco salad
is something that happened when people in the United States got tired of eating
regular taco.” “I try to give a little bit of real background,” Johnson says,
but admits,”I don’t spend too long researching them.”Johnson has added to the
database regularly since its creation in mid-April. He’s almost done with the
primary entries, and he takesrequests through email.None of the entries are
brand-name products, although some doresemble well-known brands.
Johnson felt it was important to focus on the foods themselves.
“If you’re writing about an orange or an apple or a scallop,there’s no one to answer
for it,”he says. “You’re just kind of commenting on this thing that’s always been there.”
We’ve selected a few of Johnson’s favorites to feature in our Snack Data slideshow
above, as well as a few of our own.Naturally, we’ve included the entry on salt.

To explore the entire collection, visit snackdata.com.