This specification describes a Linked Data vocabulary for Verifiable Credentials related to Food Allergies, such as a person asserting their food allergies or for indicating the presence of allergens in food and beverages.

Comments regarding all aspects of this document are welcome. Please file issues directly on GitHub, or send them to food-allergen-vocab@safebites.com.

Introduction

This specification describes a Linked Data vocabulary for Verifiable Credentials related to Food Allergies, such as a person asserting their food allergies or for indicating the presence of allergens in food and beverages.

Use Cases and Requirements

The following use cases outline a number of key scenarios that readers might find useful:

Food Allergy Card
A person using a digital credential to assert their food allergies.
Food Allergen Label
A digital credential affixed to a food or beverage item indicating the presence of food allergens.

Examples

The following example is provided as a simple example of when this vocabulary is used by a person to assert their food allergies: 

          {
            "@context": [
              "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/v1",
              "https://w3id.org/foodallergen/v1"
            ],
            "id": "https://authoritative.issuer/credentials/83627465",
            "type": ["VerifiableCredential", "FoodAllergyCard"],
            "issuer": "did:example:28394728934792387",
            "identifier": "83627465",
            "name": "Food Allergy Card",
            "description": "Personal Food Allergy Credential",
            "issuanceDate": "2020-08-15T12:20:25Z",
            "expirationDate": "2029-08-15T12:20:25Z",
            "credentialSubject": {
              "id": "did:example:b34ca6cd37bbf23",
              "type": "Person",
              "givenName": "JOHN",
              "familyName": "SMITH",
              "image": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgo...kJggg==",
              "allergenMustard": false,
              "allergenLactose": false,
              "allergenEgg": false,
              "allergenPeanut": true,
              "allergenSoy": true,
              "allergenGluten": true,
              "allergenTreenut": true,
              "allergenCrustacean": false,
              "allergenShellfish": false,
              "allergenFish": false,
              "allergenSesame": false,
              "allergenSulphites": false
            },
            "proof": {
              "type": "Ed25519Signature2018",
              "created": "2020-01-30T03:32:15Z",
              "jws": "eyJhbGciOiJFZERTQSIsI...wRG2fNmAx60Vi4Ag",
              "proofPurpose": "assertionMethod",
              "verificationMethod": "did:example:28394728934792387#keys-7f83he7s8"
            }
          }

The following example is provided as a simple example of when this vocabulary is used to indicate the presence of food allergens in a food or beverage item: 

          {
            "@context": [
              "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/v1",
              "https://w3id.org/foodallergen/v1"
            ],
            "id": "https://authoritative.issuer/credentials/83627465",
            "type": ["VerifiableCredential", "FoodAllergenLabel"],
            "issuer": "did:example:28394728934792387",
            "identifier": "83627465",
            "name": "Food Allergen Label",
            "description": "Food Allergen Credential",
            "issuanceDate": "2020-08-15T12:20:25Z",
            "expirationDate": "2029-08-15T12:20:25Z",
            "credentialSubject": {
              "id": "did:example:b34ca6cd37bbf23",
              "type": "FoodBeverageItem",
              "allergenMustard": false,
              "allergenLactose": false,
              "allergenEgg": false,
              "allergenPeanut": true,
              "allergenSoy": true,
              "allergenGluten": true,
              "allergenTreenut": true,
              "allergenCrustacean": false,
              "allergenShellfish": false,
              "allergenFish": false,
              "allergenSesame": false,
              "allergenSulphites": false
            },
            "proof": {
              "type": "Ed25519Signature2018",
              "created": "2020-01-30T03:32:15Z",
              "jws": "eyJhbGciOiJFZERTQSIsI...wRG2fNmAx60Vi4Ag",
              "proofPurpose": "assertionMethod",
              "verificationMethod": "did:example:28394728934792387#keys-7f83he7s8"
            }
          }

Terminology

Food Allergen Vocabulary

This vocabulary assumes all terms specified in the base Verifiable Credentials [[VC-DATA-MODEL]] context. In addition, the following classes are available for specifying information related to residency and citizenship status.

Class Description
FoodAllergyCard Specifies that the credential is a food allergy card.
FoodAllergenLabel Specifies that the credential is a food allergen label on a food or beverage item.
Person Specifies that the subject of the credential is a person with food allergies.
FoodBeverageItem Specifies that the subject of the credential is a food or beverage item.

This document also specifies the following terms for expressing food allergy status:

Term Description
familyName The name of the family with which the individual identifies.
givenName The non-family name with which the individual identifies.
image A representative image of the individual.
allergenCrustacean Indicates a Crustacean food allergen or allergy.
allergenEgg Indicates an Egg food allergen or allergy.
allergenFish Indicates a Fish food allergen or allergy.
allergenGluten Indicates a Gluten food allergen or allergy.
allergenLactose Indicates a Lactose food allergen or allergy.
allergenMustard Indicates a Mustard food allergen or allergy.
allergenPeanut Indicates a Peanut food allergen or allergy.
allergenSesame Indicates a Sesame food allergen or allergy.
allergenShellfish Indicates a Shellfish food allergen or allergy.
allergenSoy Indicates a Soy food allergen or allergy.
allergenSulphites Indicates a Sulphites food allergen or allergy.
allergenTreenut Indicates a Treenut food allergen or allergy.

identifier

An alternate identifier used by the issuer of the credential to refer to information associated with the credential.

Term identifier
URL http://schema.org/identifier
Expected Value string

FoodAllergyCard

Specifies that the credential is a food allergy card.

Term FoodAllergyCard
URL https://w3id.org/foodallergen#FoodAllergyCard
Expected Value Class

FoodAllergenLabel

Specifies that the credential is a food allergen label.

Term FoodAllergenLabel
URL https://w3id.org/foodallergen#FoodAllergenLabel
Expected Value Class

Person

Specifies that the subject of the credential is a person.

Term Person
URL http://schema.org/Person
Expected Value Class

FoodBeverageItem

Specifies that the subject of the credential is a food or beverage item.

Term FoodBeverageItem
URL https://w3id.org/foodallergen#FoodBeverageItem
Expected Value Class

familyName

The name of the family with which the individual identifies.

Term familyName
URL http://schema.org/familyName
Expected Value string

givenName

The non-family name with which the individual identifies.

Term givenName
URL http://schema.org/givenName
Expected Value string

image

A representative image of the individual.

Term image
URL http://schema.org/image
Expected Value string

allergenCrustacean

Indicates a Crustacean food allergen or allergy.

Term allergenCrustacean
URL https://w3id.org/foodallergen#allergenCrustacean
Expected Value boolean

allergenEgg

Indicates an Egg food allergen or allergy.

Term allergenEgg
URL https://w3id.org/foodallergen#allergenEgg
Expected Value boolean

allergenFish

Indicates a Fish food allergen or allergy.

Term allergenFish
URL https://w3id.org/foodallergen#allergenFish
Expected Value boolean

allergenGluten

Indicates a Gluten food allergen or allergy.

Term allergenGluten
URL https://w3id.org/foodallergen#allergenGluten
Expected Value boolean

allergenLactose

Indicates a Lactose food allergen or allergy.

Term allergenLactose
URL https://w3id.org/foodallergen#allergenLactose
Expected Value boolean

allergenMustard

Indicates a Mustard food allergen or allergy.

Term allergenMustard
URL https://w3id.org/foodallergen#allergenMustard
Expected Value boolean

allergenPeanut

Indicates a Peanut food allergen or allergy.

Term allergenPeanut
URL https://w3id.org/foodallergen#allergenPeanut
Expected Value boolean

allergenSesame

Indicates a Sesame food allergen or allergy.

Term allergenSesame
URL https://w3id.org/foodallergen#allergenSesame
Expected Value boolean

allergenShellfish

Indicates a Shellfish food allergen or allergy.

Term allergenShellfish
URL https://w3id.org/foodallergen#allergenShellfish
Expected Value boolean

allergenSoy

Indicates a Soy food allergen or allergy.

Term allergenSoy
URL https://w3id.org/foodallergen#allergenSoy
Expected Value boolean

allergenSulphites

Indicates a Sulphites food allergen or allergy.

Term allergenSulphites
URL https://w3id.org/foodallergen#allergenSulphites
Expected Value boolean

allergenTreenut

Indicates a Tree Nut food allergen or allergy.

Term allergenTreenut
URL https://w3id.org/foodallergen#allergenTreenut
Expected Value boolean

Privacy Considerations

This section details the general privacy considerations and specific privacy implications of deploying this specification into production environments.

Security Considerations

There are a number of security considerations that implementers should be aware of when processing data described by this specification. Ignoring or not understanding the implications of this section can result in security vulnerabilities.

While this section attempts to highlight a broad set of security considerations, it is not a complete list. Implementers are urged to seek the advice of security and cryptography professionals when implementing mission critical systems using the technology outlined in this specification.

Accessibility Considerations

There are a number of accessibility considerations implementers should be aware of when processing data described in this specification. As with any web standards or protocols implementation, ignoring accessibility issues makes this information unusable to a large subset of the population. It is important to follow accessibility guidelines and standards, such as [[WCAG21]], to ensure all people, regardless of ability, can make use of this data. This is especially important when establishing systems utilizing cryptography, which have historically created problems for assistive technologies.

This section details the general accessibility considerations to take into account when utilizing this data model.

Internationalization Considerations

There are a number of internationalization considerations implementers should be aware of when publishing data described in this specification. As with any web standards or protocols implementation, ignoring internationalization makes it difficult for data to be produced and consumed across a disparate set of languages and societies, which would limit the applicability of the specification and significantly diminish its value as a standard.

This section outlines general internationalization considerations to take into account when utilizing this data model.