Low Risk

lookup_nutrition

Look up the full nutritional profile (calories, protein, carbs, fat, fibre, and key micronutrients) for any food by name and serving size. Use this when someone asks about the nutrition or macros in a specific food.

Single-target operation

Part of the Nutribalance MCP server. Enforce policies on this tool with Intercept, the open-source MCP proxy.

AI agents call lookup_nutrition to retrieve information from Nutribalance without modifying any data. This is common in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows where the agent needs context before taking action. Because read operations don't change state, they are generally safe to allow without restrictions -- but you may still want rate limits to control API costs.

Even though lookup_nutrition only reads data, uncontrolled read access can leak sensitive information or rack up API costs. An agent caught in a retry loop could make thousands of calls per minute. A rate limit gives you a safety net without blocking legitimate use.

Read-only tools are safe to allow by default. No rate limit needed unless you want to control costs.

nutribalance-nutribalance-mcp.yaml
tools:
  lookup_nutrition:
    rules:
      - action: allow

See the full Nutribalance policy for all 5 tools.

Tool Name lookup_nutrition
Category Read
Risk Level Low

Agents calling read-class tools like lookup_nutrition have been implicated in these attack patterns. Read the full case and prevention policy for each:

Browse the full MCP Attack Database →

Other tools in the Read risk category across the catalogue. The same policy patterns (rate-limit, allow) apply to each.

What does the lookup_nutrition tool do? +

Look up the full nutritional profile (calories, protein, carbs, fat, fibre, and key micronutrients) for any food by name and serving size. Use this when someone asks about the nutrition or macros in a specific food.. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Nutribalance MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.

How do I enforce a policy on lookup_nutrition? +

Add a rule in your Intercept YAML policy under the tools section for lookup_nutrition. You can allow, deny, rate-limit, or validate arguments. Then run Intercept as a proxy in front of the Nutribalance MCP server.

What risk level is lookup_nutrition? +

lookup_nutrition is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.

Can I rate-limit lookup_nutrition? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the lookup_nutrition rule in your Intercept policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.

How do I block lookup_nutrition completely? +

Set action: deny in the Intercept policy for lookup_nutrition. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.

What MCP server provides lookup_nutrition? +

lookup_nutrition is provided by the Nutribalance MCP server (NutriBalance/nutribalance-mcp). Intercept sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.

Enforce policies on Nutribalance

Open source. One binary. Zero dependencies.

npx -y @policylayer/intercept
github.com/policylayer/intercept →
// GET IN TOUCH

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