On Transforming FoodEx2 to a Standardized and Interoperable Thesaurus

Food resource management plays a pivotal role in addressing global challenges related to food security, sustainability, public health, and economic development. To facilitate the collection and identification of food resources, various collections and systems have emerged from the scientific community. One such system is FoodEx2, which has been developed by the European Food Safety Authority and is used for classifying and describing food-related information. In this paper, we describe how FoodEx2 can be transformed into a standardized thesaurus using well-established technologies and standards that enhance its interoperability and exchange of data resources. The new thesaurus also promotes its usage through the adoption of unique and global identifiers for its contents and through a variety of tools that can be used for accessing and visualizing it. In addition, we describe how the thesaurus can be reconstructed from the original sources as they evolve.