What Readers Should Know About World of Food

World of Food was a directory of food and agriculture links, launched around 2007. It was run by Food-Info.net and EFFoST, the European Federation of Food Science and Technology, from the Netherlands. The directory gathered food related resources by country and by sector in one place. Readers who come across a site using that name today should check who runs it and what it offers, since the name describes an earlier project. Today the site presents The Larder Index, a single-column annotated reading of the old directory, where we shelve its country pages and cite the real organisations as sources.

What was the World of Food directory?

World of Food launched around 2007 as a directory of food and agriculture links. It was an initiative of Food-Info.net and EFFoST, the European Federation of Food Science and Technology. The operation was based in the Netherlands, listed at a PO Box address in that country. Its aim was to gather food related resources by country and by sector in one place, so visitors could find organisations, information sources, and businesses across the food chain without searching site by site. Projects of this kind were common at the time, when general search engines were less effective at organising specialist material. A directory depended on steady upkeep. Links go out of date, organisations close or merge, and categories need revision. When maintenance stops, the directory loses value even if the pages stay online. Readers judging a site that carries the World of Food name today can look at a few plain facts: who runs it, where it is based, and whether the links and listings still work. The original project was tied to named organisations in food science and technology. If a current site offers no comparable information about itself, that is a fair reason for caution. The name alone does not confirm any connection to the original directory or to the bodies behind it.

How large was the directory?

The World of Food directory was organized by geography and by sector. It offered roughly 200 country pages, each collecting food related links for a single nation. On top of that geographic layer, it added about 40 pages dedicated to specific food sectors. These sector pages grouped sites by subject rather than by place, so a reader could browse by country or by topic. The directory also listed international organisations and food science journals alongside commercial and hobbyist sites. This gave the listing a broader range than a simple link exchange. Submission forms played a role in building it. Site owners could propose their own links for inclusion, which meant the directory grew partly through external submissions rather than staff research alone. The structure was therefore straightforward: country pages, sector pages, and reference sections for organisations and journals, with a submission route for new entries.

What happened to the site after 2014?

The active life of the directory ended around 2014. After that point it stopped operating as a working food directory. From about 2018 to 2022, the domain sat parked. A parked domain displays a placeholder page and carries no real content, and this one stayed in that state for several years. By 2025 the domain had changed again. It carried restaurant related spam rather than the original directory pages. In other words, the name now points to material with no connection to the structured country and sector listings described elsewhere. Readers who encounter the World of Food name today should therefore know that the current site does not preserve or continue the original directory. Its later history is typical of older web directories: a period of operation, then abandonment, then reuse of the domain for unrelated content.

What stands there today?

The current site, The Larder Index, presents itself as an annotated reading of the old directory arrangement. It looks back at how the original listing was organised and comments on that structure. It does not claim to continue the work. The site states clearly that it is not the revived directory and not Food-Info.net. It names the real organisations involved as sources, so readers can check the record themselves. The writing uses a shelving, filing office voice. Entries read like notes from an archive room: what was filed, where it sat, and what surrounded it. This framing matters. The original directory was a Dutch initiative, and there is no stated connection between that effort and the site that exists now. Readers should not assume any connection to the original Dutch initiative. If you arrive looking for a living directory of food resources, this site will not serve that purpose. It is a commentary on a past arrangement, not a replacement for it. The honest reading is to treat it as an editorial guide to the old structure, useful for context and history, and to look elsewhere if you need a working index of food information.

How should readers verify food directories like this?

Old food directories and their domain names change hands. A few practical checks help before you rely on what a site shows today. First, check who runs the site. Look for a named organisation behind it, with a role you can verify. A domain alone is not a source. Second, look for archive snapshots. Public web archives keep copies of what a domain showed in earlier years. Comparing an old snapshot with the current page shows whether the site continued, changed purpose, or was replaced. Third, treat submit forms and contact details on revived domains with care. A form on a site with no clear operator can go anywhere, and contact details may not reach anyone. Do not send personal information through them. Fourth, cross reference food science claims with established sources. EFFoST, the European Federation of Food Science and Technology, and university food science departments publish material you can check. If a claim about food safety, processing, or nutrition appears on a small site, confirm it against one of these before you repeat it. These checks take minutes. They protect you from citing a domain that no longer represents what it once did, and they keep your own work grounded in sources that answer for themselves.