Google product taxonomy · 2021-09-21

Food Items

The Google product category ID for Food Items is 422. It sits under Food, Beverages & Tobacco and has 19 subcategories of its own, so it is a predefined value you can send as it stands — but one of those 19 is usually the closer answer, and an interior category fits when a product genuinely spans the ones below.

Category ID: 422
Direct subcategories: 19
Categories below it in total: 311
Depth, on a branch that runs 6: 2 / 6
Others at this level: 2
Parent category: Food, Beverages & Tobacco
Taxonomy version: 2021-09-21
Sent in your feed as: google_product_category

Where this sits in the taxonomy

Measured by how much sits beneath them, Food Items is the largest of the 3 categories under Food, Beverages & Tobacco, with 311 categories below it. Size is not correctness — a small category is the right answer when it is the right answer — but it does tell you how much of the taxonomy you are still choosing between once you pick this branch.

Food ItemsFruits & Vegetables Fresh & Frozen Fruits Citrus Fruits Grapefruits

The longest route down from here runs 4 more levels, ending at Grapefruits (6621) on level 6: Food Items › Fruits & Vegetables › Fresh & Frozen Fruits › Citrus Fruits › Grapefruits. Most branches stop sooner than that — the figure to compare it against is the seven levels Google's taxonomy allows, not the depth of the branch next door.

Every category at the same level as Food Items, compared by id, direct subcategories, total categories below and how many levels each one runs.
Category	ID	Direct	Below	Levels
Beverages	413	15	41	4
Food Items — this page	422	19	311	4
Tobacco Products	435	6	8	2

Using this value

Either form of this value goes in the google_product_category attribute: the numeric ID (422) or the full path ("Food, Beverages & Tobacco > Food Items"). Both are predefined values for the same category. The ID is the sturdier of the two, because renaming any segment above this one changes the path text and leaves the number alone. Before sending it, check whether one of the 19 subcategories below fits — a narrower category groups the product with fewer, closer things.

Bear in mind that google_product_category is an optional attribute. Google assigns a category automatically, and your value is treated as a signal rather than an override. When an override actually applies.

In your feed, it looks like this

Either row below is accepted. The first is the one to send.

products.csv3 of your columns

id	title	google_product_category
SKU-1001	Your product title	422
SKU-1001	Your product title	"Food, Beverages & Tobacco > Food Items"

This path contains a comma, so the cell has to be quoted: unquoted, a CSV reader splits "Food, Beverages & Tobacco > Food Items" into 2 columns and the row stops lining up with its header. The numeric ID, 422, contains no comma.

What sits under Food Items

19 subcategories. A narrower category groups the product with fewer, closer things, so prefer one of these when it fits.

They are not the same size. Fruits & Vegetables (430) is the largest with 135 categories beneath it, so most of what sits under Food Items sits under that one name. 13 of the 19 carry subcategories of their own and the remaining 6 are leaves, which is worth knowing before you go looking for a narrower value that is not there.

Categories beneath each one12 largest of 13

Fruits & Vegetables135 Cooking & Baking Ingredients39 Condiments & Sauces28 Snack Foods20 Bakery15 Meat, Seafood & Eggs12 Grains, Rice & Cereal11 Dips & Spreads10 Dairy Products8 Tofu, Soy & Vegetarian Products5 Seasonings & Spices4 Frozen Desserts & Novelties3

Questions about Food Items

What is the Google product category ID for Food Items?

422. The full path, "Food, Beverages & Tobacco > Food Items", is the same category written the other way. The ID is shorter, and renaming a segment above this one changes the path text while leaving the number alone.

Should I use Food Items or one of its subcategories?

Prefer a subcategory when one fits: Food Items has 19 directly below it, starting with Bakery (1876), Candied & Chocolate Covered Fruit (6219), Candy & Chocolate (4748), and 311 in total further down. 422 is itself a predefined value, so an interior category is not an error — it just groups the product more broadly than a subcategory would.

Where does Food Items sit in the taxonomy?

At level 2, under Food, Beverages & Tobacco (412). The chain from the top is Food, Beverages & Tobacco → Food Items. If your product does not belong under Food, Beverages & Tobacco, it does not belong here either — check the level above before going deeper.

What should I use if Food Items is not quite right?

Look across the rest of Food, Beverages & Tobacco first — there are 2 other categories at this level: Beverages (413), Tobacco Products (435). If none of them fits either, the problem is higher up: go back to Food, Beverages & Tobacco (412) and pick a different branch from there rather than settling for the closest thing on this one.

How much more specific can I get than Food Items?

4 levels more. The longest route down from Food Items is Food Items > Fruits & Vegetables > Fresh & Frozen Fruits > Citrus Fruits > Grapefruits, ending at Grapefruits (6621) on level 6. Not every branch below Food Items runs that far, so the category that fits your product may stop earlier than this one does.

How big is Food Items compared with the categories next to it?

It is the largest of the 3 at its level, carrying 311 categories below it. Inside it, Fruits & Vegetables (430) is the biggest branch with 135 beneath it. A bigger category is not a better one — it just means more of the taxonomy is still open below you after you pick it.

Not sure this is the one?

Describe the product and get the category with its ID, a confidence figure and the runners-up it was weighed against.

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Canonical URL: https://sellersort.com/google-product-category/422-food-beverages-and-tobacco-food-items