Standardization of the Food Composition Database Used in the Latin American Nutrition and Health Study (ELANS)

Between-country comparisons of estimated dietary intake are particularly prone to error when different food composition tables are used. The objective of this study was to describe our procedures and rationale for the selection and adaptation of available food composition to a single database to enable cross-country nutritional intake comparisons. Latin American Study of Nutrition and Health (ELANS) is a multicenter cross-sectional study of representative samples from eight Latin American countries. A standard study protocol was designed to investigate dietary intake of 9000 participants enrolled. Two 24-h recalls using the Multiple Pass Method were applied among the individuals of all countries. Data from 24-h dietary recalls were entered into the Nutrition Data System for Research (NDS-R) program after a harmonization process between countries to include local foods and appropriately adapt the NDS-R database. A food matching standardized procedure involving nutritional equivalency of local food reported by the study participants with foods available in the NDS-R database was strictly conducted by each country. Standardization of food and nutrient assessments has the potential to minimize systematic and random errors in nutrient intake estimations in the ELANS project. This study is expected to result in a unique dataset for Latin America, enabling cross-country comparisons of energy, macro- and micro-nutrient intake within this region.     

Impact of a Dynamic Food Supply on Food Composition Databases

Food composition data have a variety of end uses ranging from labelling of single foods to individual food intakes to national dietary surveys. Micronutrients may be critical indicators of nutritional status when individual or national daily intake data are considered but the most used data are those of macronutrients. Sources of error for the end user are myriad and increasingly well described. A recent study measured the variances involved in estimating the composition of foods/recipes not listed on a food composition database. A group of expert users showed significant differences in estimates of protein and micronutrients but not energy fat and carbohydrate when the same food records were analysed using the same database.This investigation illustrates a related difficulty—high turnover rates of manufactured foods and consequences for end users. The Manufactured Food Database contains about 5000 manufactured foods and has a 30–50% annual turnover. The manufacturer reported macronutrient data on this database offer an additional resource to end users in the setting of a dynamic food supply. The impact of voluntary fortification is another confounding factor for end users with traditional food composition databases and has particular implications for monitoring population nutrient intakes. Food composition database providers must consider new and novel approaches to describing a rapidly changing food supply.     

Food composition activities in the Oceania region

OCEANIAFOODS was established in 1987. Countries under its umbrella are Australia, New Zealand and the Secretariat of Pacific Communities (SPC, formerly the South Pacific Commission), which represents 22 Pacific Island governments. The convenorship rotates among these three regions. This report highlights major activities undertaken by OCEANIAFOODS from 2002 to 2005. The SPC, based in New Caledonia, includes a Lifestyle Health section (LHS) and a sub-office in Fiji. In Fiji, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) commissioned a project to strengthen food analytical capability in the Pacific region. The project, which ran from April 2002 to August 2004, succeeded in meeting all its goals with some adjustments. In Australia, food composition work is undertaken by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) and has focused on three key areas: providing a free web-based nutrition panel calculator for nutrition labelling, preparing for the release of updated Australian nutrient data, and initiating several small analytical projects including the analysis of iodine levels in common foods and folates and folic acid in foods such as breakfast cereals. Activities outside FSANZ include further research on folate analysis at the University of New South Wales. In New Zealand, the focus has been on developing the food composition database. In 2003, Dr. Heather Greenfield reviewed the New Zealand Food Composition Database (NZFCDB), and in July 2004 the Ministry of Health renewed Crop and Food Research's contract until June 2007 to maintain the database. Publications over the last 3 years include the sixth edition of the concise food composition tables and release of an updated FOODFiles2004 electronic data files. In April 2005, the Seventh OCEANIAFOODS Conference, Innovations in Nutrient Information, was held in Wellington, New Zealand. Fifty-nine delegates attended the conference at which keynote addresses were given by Joanne Holden (USA), Bill Aalbersberg (Fiji), and Heather Greenfield (Australia). The conference resulted in 13 recommendations being formulated. The convenor of the next OCEANIAFOODS conference is Professor Bill Aalbersberg, Fiji.     

Compatibility of computed and chemically determined macronutrients and energy content of traditional Greek recipes

The analyses of composite recipes are frequently missing in nutrient databases and their inclusion presupposes expensive and fairly complicated chemical analyses. The nutritional composition of traditional Greek composite foods was determined through chemical analyses and by the computerized program, Unilever Dietary Analysis Program (UNIDAP). The chemical analyses followed standard procedures and were also performed on all the raw ingredients used for preparation for the composite foods. The UNIDAP system was originally based on the British Food Composition Tables, but has been enriched over the years with compositional data representative of Greek food items, derived from chemical analyses conducted in the context of research projects.Some discrepancies were observed between the nutrient values of the raw ingredients that were used for the preparation of the recipes and the UNIDAP database nutrient values for the same ingredients, but despite that, a very good agreement was deduced for the macronutrients and energy content of the composite foods. It is concluded that the UNIDAP generates reliable data on macronutrients and energy content of Greek food recipes. This provides the foundation for developing more up-to-date nutrient database in Greece and supplies health professionals with an important tool for dietary planning, nutrient and food database development, and policy implementation.     

Structure and Uses of USDA Food Composition Databases

Food composition databases are a basic tool to assess dietary status of a population and are therefore critical for nutrition policy development. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service develops and disseminates widely used food composition databases. The two largest are the Standard Reference (SR) and Survey databases. These two databases have a similar number of foods (6000–7000) but different structures and uses. This paper describes these two databases from the user's perspective. The SR database includes foods used in the United States for which up-to-date nutrient data are available. Foods are listed unprepared (raw) and by the most common preparation methods. The Survey database, used with national surveys of food intake, describes foods in consumer terms. The SR database lists approximately 77 food components, but may not have values for components in all foods. The Survey database lists fewer components (about 50) but has values for these components for every food on the database. Many food composition databases are derived from the SR and Survey databases. They form the backbone for databases on popular software programs and in printed references and are used around the world in creating databases to characterize local food intake.     

Food portion weights in primary and secondary school lunches in England.

BACKGROUND: National Nutritional Standards for school lunches were reintroduced in 2001, and included guidance on portion sizes for primary schools. For the first time since 1997, nationally representative data on school food portion sizes in England have been collected using direct assessment rather than reported portion sizes. METHODS: Food portions were weighed directly in foods served in nationally representative samples of primary and secondary school meals. Results were grouped by food or food group. RESULTS: The number of portions weighed was 7975 in primary schools and 3354 in secondary schools. Individual portion weights were grouped by food or food group to yield mean, median, SD and inter-quartile range. For a given food or food group, the number of portions weighed varied from 5 to 210 portions in primary schools and between 5 and 194 portions in secondary schools. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide a good representation of typical portion weights for different foods and food groups in primary and secondary schools in England. Portion size is one factor that determines nutrient intake. New standards for school lunches are both nutrient and food-based. Guidance on portion weights will help to ensure that pupils consume the correct balance of foods to obtain the recommended nutrient intake. The present findings complement and extend existing guidance on portion sizes for pupils in schools in England and Scotland.     

Development of amino acid composition database for Korean foods

To provide true and correct information on diet and health for consumers, a 5-year project for nutrient database was started in 2001. Food list representing usual diet of Koreans was developed using the result of the 2001 National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHNS) and 2002 Seasonal Nutrition Survey. Based on the food intake data obtained from 1-day 24-h recall interviews, a food list of 150 representative food items for chemical analysis was formulated considering the amount and frequency of consumption, dietary pattern differences by sex and age class, and probable high content of protein. Foods were purchased in triplicates considering the area of production or the best-selling brands for processed foods. Then foods were analyzed for amino acids using HPLC. As a result, amino acid composition of 150 food items for 18 kinds was constructed into a database. This database is expected to contribute toward achieving health goals stated in the ‘Health Plan 2010’ by allowing informed-consumers decide and choose foods based on the recent, updated and correct nutrient composition of foods to accommodate their own needs.     

Assessment of the food list and serving size of a Food Frequency Questionnaire in an adult population

This study examined both the food list and portion size values from a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) among participants in a case-control study in S?o Paulo, Brazil. Two hundred adult respondents to a case-control study were randomly selected (101 men and 99 women; age range: 35-69 years). FFQ food items were examined on the basis of their contribution to total population nutrient intake estimated by 24-hour dietary recall (1-DR). We examined the frequency distribution of equivalent-gram weights of each selected food from the 1-DR and identified the portion sizes as small, medium, and large in the distribution (percentiles 25, 50, and 75, respectively). The FFQ provided close estimation of total fat, saturated fatty acids, cholesterol, total fiber, vitamin B6, and folic acid compared to the 1-DR (paired t-test; p < 0.05). The FFQ food list covered the study population's main dietary nutrient sources.     

Nutrient profiling can help identify foods of good nutritional quality for their price: a validation study with linear programming

Nutrient profiling ranks foods based on their nutrient content. They may help identify foods with a good nutritional quality for their price. This hypothesis was tested using diet modeling with linear programming. Analyses were undertaken using food intake data from the nationally representative French INCA (enquête Individuelle et Nationale sur les Consommations Alimentaires) survey and its associated food composition and price database. For each food, a nutrient profile score was defined as the ratio between the previously published nutrient density score (NDS) and the limited nutrient score (LIM); a nutritional quality for price indicator was developed and calculated from the relationship between its NDS:LIM and energy cost (in euro/100 kcal). We developed linear programming models to design diets that fulfilled increasing levels of nutritional constraints at a minimal cost. The median NDS:LIM values of foods selected in modeled diets increased as the levels of nutritional constraints increased (P = 0.005). In addition, the proportion of foods with a good nutritional quality for price indicator was higher (P < 0.0001) among foods selected (81%) than among foods not selected (39%) in modeled diets. This agreement between the linear programming and the nutrient profiling approaches indicates that nutrient profiling can help identify foods of good nutritional quality for their price. Linear programming is a useful tool for testing nutrient profiling systems and validating the concept of nutrient profiling.     

Computerized nutrient data bases: I. Comparison of nutrient analysis systems

Food composition tables now being compiled include a wide range of food items and nutrients. This trend is paralleled in the development of computer-stored nutrient data bases that are being utilized for numerous applications, such as cost-optimized menu planning, dietary record analysis, and nutritional assessment. In 1976, several participants at the National Nutrient Data Bank Conference agreed to cooperate in a comparative study to analyze a common one-day dietary record. The results of three subsequent analyses indicated that the values for nutrients varied considerably even after elimination of coding judgments relative to portion size and selection of food items. The results of the study indicated the need for an assessment methodology suitable for evaluating performance of a computerized nutrient analysis system.     

Improvement of the nutritional quality of foods as a public health tool

Objectives

To assess the potential contribution of improving the nutritional quality of processed foods on individuals’ nutritional intake and food supply. This paper also discusses the means to encourage firms to implement these reformulations, particularly in public/private partnerships.

Study design

The French Observatory of Food Quality was created by the Government for the quantification and follow-up of food reformulation by the food industry. This nutritional composition database on branded products was matched with two consumption databases: TNS Kantar Worldpanel, which provides details on quantities bought and food expenditures; and INCA 2, an individuals’ food consumption survey completed by the French Food Safety Agency. Three food groups were considered: breakfast cereals (355 items in 2008), biscuits and pastries (1805 items in 2008), and bread-based products (620 items in 2009).

Methods

First, the variability in nutrient composition within food categories was determined, which made it possible to consider several food composition modification scenarios within each category. The formulation of the food items with the lowest nutritional quality was modified to three different levels to improve the overall level of quality in a given category. Second, the quantities of sugars, fat, fibre and sodium delivered to the French market through breakfast cereals, biscuits, pastries and bread-based products were calculated for each scenario. Finally, the distribution of individuals’ nutrient consumption from the three food groups among the French population was assessed.

Results

These scenarios generated important improvements of 1–22% (increase in the amount of fibre or decrease in the amounts of sugars, fat and sodium delivered to the market), depending on the scenario, the food group and the nutrient considered. Improvement of the products with the lowest nutritional quality would also lead to significant variation in individuals’ nutrient consumption for the average adult and child consumers of the three groups (range 4.2–18.8%, depending on the scenario, the food group and the nutrient considered).

Conclusion

Encouraging the reformulation of foods, especially for products with the lowest nutritional quality in each category of processed foods, is a worthy target for health policy makers. The methodology presented in this paper provides information for negotiations between policy makers and firms to quantify commitments in terms of their potential impacts on individuals’ nutrient intake, and to check that the firms’ commitments are actually met.     

Nutrient Database Development: A Historical Perspective from the Framingham Nutrition Studies

Food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) are commonly used in nutritional epidemiology to assess habitual eating habits. Development of an appropriate food and nutrient database is required for translating information derived from FFQs into estimates of nutrient intake, dietary quality, or for absolute or rank-ordered nutritional risk assessment. We discuss the procedures used recently in designing a historical nutrient database to analyze an FFQ administered in 1984-1988 to Framingham Offspring-Spouse Study members. This systematic approach should inform other research in the field. The self-administered 145-item Framingham FFQ is semi-quantitative with seven nonoverlapping response categories to determine annual consumption frequency. The database development process included selection of the US Department of Agriculture's Nutrient Database for Standard Reference as the primary raw data source, expansion of the 145 FFQ line items to code individual foods to assign nutrient values, a selection process to match foods to appropriate nutrition codes for nutrient information, and a statistical model to calculate nutrient intakes. The historical database contains 449 foods and nutrient data for all 29 nutrients available in 1985. The adequacy with which an FFQ can provide reliable diet assessment data depends on the integrity of the underlying database. We outlined a systematic protocol to derive usual dietary intake from an FFQ using a robust nutrient database that is appropriate for the Framingham Offspring-Spouse Study FFQ and its assessment time-frame. The database can be updated to accommodate changes in the food supply and eating behaviors and creates a foundation for future nutrition research.     

A data-based approach to diet questionnaire design and testing

A self-administered diet history questionnaire has been developed for epidemiologic and clinical use. Both the food list and the nutrient values to be associated with it were developed using dietary data from 11,658 adult respondents to the Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES II). Food items were selected on the basis of their contribution to total population intake of energy and each of 17 nutrients in the NHANES II data, and represent over 90% of each of those nutrients. Associated nutrient composition values were determined from the NHANES II database using frequency of consumption data in that survey. Portion sizes to be associated with each food item were derived from observed portion size distributions in NHANES II, based on three-dimensional models. The resulting food list and its corresponding brief data base, when used to calculate nutrients from a diet record, yielded correlations of r greater than 0.70 with the more detailed method. Field administration produced mean values comparable to national data.     

Update of the Moroccan food composition tables: Towards a more reliable tool for nutrition research

The last food composition table (FCT) for Morocco was published in 1984 and has not been updated since. Our study aimed at bringing this FCT up to date, taking into account the current Moroccan population’s diet. To collate nutrient information, we used the indirect method based on existing data published in the scientific literature. The primary data sources for compiling this table were local FCTs. International food composition data were used as an alternative source when Moroccan data were not available. This updated FCT includes information on 38 nutrient components, for 587 food items commonly consumed in Morocco. These foods represent an addition of 79 % of foods in the FCT. About 7 % of nutritional values were derived from Moroccan data sources and about 93 % from international sources, namely Tunisia, West Africa, France, UK, and USA. We were unable to find approximately 20 % of nutrient estimates. This updated FCT provides information on foods and dishes commonly consumed in Morocco and it can be used as a tool to foster nutritional research and to design public health strategies in Morocco. This work is a first step towards updating a standardized Moroccan FCT, which will need to be complemented with high-quality composition data.     

Standardization of Food Composition Databases for the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC): General Theoretical Concept

EPIC is a prospective cohort study on diet and cancer involving 480 000 subjects from nine European countries. In order to establish the relationship between nutrient intakes and disease, standardized food composition databases are needed. In the absence of already existing comparable European nutrient database(s), an ad hoc approach was developed to standardize the EPIC databases. New matrices were built using information as collected from the EPIC study subjects in order to overcome the difficulty of reducing the systematic differences between food lists in national databases. In the EPIC databases, the foods lists, vertical axes, are based on information derived from standardized computerized 24-h diet recalls collected from 35 000 subjects. The criteria of selection and level of detail on foods reported in the EPIC databases are therefore highly standardized between countries. In addition, reported recipes are systematically broken down into ingredients to optimize the comparison between countries. For the nutrient list, horizontal axes, the number, mode of expression, definition, unit and methods of analysis are fixed. The compilation of nutrients, nutrient value cells, is carried out using standardized sources of nutrient data or algorithms. Depending on whether the food is common or country-specific, the same or country-specific source of values will be used. This approach addresses some methodological issues, which may have implications for future priorities and development of food composition tables.     

Food perception at lunchtime does not depend on the nutritional and perceived characteristics of breakfast

Breakfast consumption can entail nutritional advantages positively affecting food choices. This study investigated the effect of minor changes in breakfast composition on the perceived attributes of foods, both at breakfast and at lunchtime. Four breakfasts were defined considering nutritional and perceptual factors. Three breakfasts varied just for a single cereal-based chocolate-containing food item, while a control breakfast mimicked fasting conditions. Breakfast perception was assessed before and after consumption. Subjects rated breakfast energy content on the basis of single items, while judged breakfast healthiness as a whole, suggesting that the combination of different ingredients can modify the perceived health value of foods. Additionally, 4?h after breakfast, a perceptual evaluation of lunch-related food images was performed, without differences among breakfasts. This study extends current knowledge on the relationship between subjective perceptual attributes and objective energy value and food composition, as well as on breakfast impact on food perception at lunchtime.     

Food composition activities in Argentina,Chile and Paraguay

Activities related to national food composition in Argentina and Chile have been traditionally developed by universities. Presently, due to the market globalization, governments must lead this task, along with the academic and private sector, to have a robust national food composition database (FCDB) for nutritional labeling and other purposes. A project was presented to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with the main objective of developing the national FCDBs of Argentina, Chile and Paraguay. FAO approved project TCP/RLA/3107 whose main results are: (i) governments recognize their leading role in food composition elaborating plans of actions for strengthening this activity for the next few years; (ii) professionals from each country will be trained to set up food sampling plans and standardized compilation procedures; (iii) sampling plans for 30 priority foods will be developed and 250 food items compiled per country; (iv) 5 key foods will be sampled, according the developed sampling plans, and analyzed per country; (v) all the information generated will be part of the respective database and shared with LATINFOODS.This project has been an important impulse to institutionalize food composition activities in Argentina, Chile and Paraguay, through a permanent Government program which permits the establishment and updating of their National FCDB and Food Composition Tables (FCT).     

German food composition database for dietary evaluations in children and adolescents

Dietary assessment and evaluation in infancy and childhood is of nutritional importance, of specific interest in the prevention of chronic diseases in later life, and Food Composition Databases (FCDB) are an important prerequisite, in particular FCDB that include a large variety of commercial, composite food products. We therefore developed a FCDB known as LEBTAB, which contains foods consumed by infants, children and adolescents in Germany. LEBTAB is divided into 23 basic food groups and currently contains a total of about 6000 items: 936 basic food items and more than 5000 commercial brands/composite foods, of which 27% are infant foods. Commercial food products have a total of 47,500 data entries for various ingredients. In contrast to many other FCDB, the nutrient content (38 nutrients) of commercial food products is calculated by way of a recipe simulation process using listed ingredients, and includes information on fortified nutrients. Children in Germany today consume predominantly commercial food products; knowledge of the ingredients, fortification or nutrient content of these foods is of particular interest. Unfortunately, only limited information on the composition of commercial food products is available. Therefore, the recipe simulation procedure based on information from food labels or manufacturers helps to overcome these shortcomings. In addition, in order to analyse changes in nutrient intake over time, the tracking of modifications made to food items is a necessary special feature of those FCDB which aim to keep up with the rapidly changing food market.     

Methodology for Adding Glycemic Index to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Nutrient Database

Generating valid estimates of dietary glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) has been a challenge in nutritional epidemiology. The methodologic issues may have contributed to the wide variation of GI/GL associations with health outcomes observed in existing literature. We describe a standardized methodology for assigning GI values to items in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) nutrient database using the new International Tables to develop research-driven, systematic procedures and strategies to estimate dietary GI/GL exposures of a nationally representative population sample. Nutrient databases for NHANES 2003-2006 contain information on 3,155 unique foods derived from the US Department of Agriculture National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference versions 18 and 20. Assignment of GI values were made to a subset of 2,078 carbohydrate-containing foods using systematic food item matching procedures applied to 2008 international GI tables and online data sources. Matching protocols indicated that 45.4% of foods had identical matches with existing data sources, 31.9% had similar matches, 2.5% derived GI values calculated with the formula for combination foods, 13.6% were assigned a default GI value based on low carbohydrate content, and 6.7% of GI values were based on data extrapolation. Most GI values were derived from international sources; 36.1% were from North American product information. To confirm data assignments, dietary GI and GL intakes of the NHANES 2003-2006 adult participants were estimated from two 24-hour recalls and compared with published studies. Among the 3,689 men and 4,112 women studied, mean dietary GI was 56.2 (men 56.9, women 55.5), mean dietary GL was 138.1 (men 162.1, women 116.4); the distribution of dietary GI was approximately normal. Estimates of population GI and GL compare favorably with other published literature. This methodology of adding GI values to an existing population nutrient database utilized systematic matching protocols and the latest comprehensive data sources on food composition. The database can be applied in clinical and survey research settings where there is interest in estimating individual and population dietary exposures and relating them to health outcomes.