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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BHNRC) » Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center » Food Surveys Research Group » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #314319

Title: Prototype Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies: Branded Food Products Database for Public Health Proof of Concept

Author
item Steinfeldt, Lois
item Martin, Carrie
item Rhodes, Donna
item YIRENKYI, KOJOE - Medical Science & Computing, Llc
item MATTEY, PRANITHA - Medical Science & Computing, Llc
item Lacomb, Randy
item Moshfegh, Alanna

Submitted to: Worldwide Web Site: Food Surveys Research Group
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/19/2015
Publication Date: 1/26/2015
Citation: Steinfeldt, L.C., Martin, C.L., Rhodes, D.G., Yirenkyi, K.M., Mattey, P., LaComb, R.P., Moshfegh, A.J. 2015. Prototype Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies: Branded Food Products Database for Public Health Proof of Concept. Worldwide Web Site: Food Surveys Research Group. Available: www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=25126.

Interpretive Summary: Monitoring the dietary intake of Americans requires an accurate and complete database of foods and beverages and their nutrients. The average grocery store in the U.S. contains more than 40,000 items. There are over 20,000 new food and beverage products launched each year and continuing reformulations of existing products. Many of these changes are the result of public health initiatives to reduce intake of saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium. Label data in electronic format are being obtained through the Partnership for Public Health: Branded Food Products Database. The partnership is composed of USDA/ARS, the International Life Sciences Institute North America and the Agricultural Technology Innovation Partnership Foundation. The label information will include the manufacturer and brand, the Nutrition Facts Panel data, ingredients, serving size description and weight in grams, and dates for when a product is available, when it is discontinued, and when it is changed. Incorporating branded food product label data into the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS), the database that provides nutrient values for foods and beverages reported in What We Eat in America, NHANES, will dramatically increase the size and greatly improve the currency of the FNDDS. The Prototype FNDDS can be viewed online and downloaded at the Food Surveys Research Group Web site at www.ars.usda.gov/nea/bhnrc/fsrg. Documentation is available to assist in understanding and using the data. The purpose of this prototype is to exhibit the approach for incorporation of the Branded Food Products Database into FNDDS and is not intended for use at this time in the What We Eat in America, NHANES survey.

Technical Abstract: The Prototype Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (Prototype FNDDS) Branded Food Products Database for Public Health is a proof of concept database. The database contains a small selection of food products which is being used to exhibit the approach for incorporation of the Branded Food Products Database into FNDDS. It successfully demonstrates that data can be moved electronically from food manufacturers into the FNDDS. Food manufacturers initiate the process when they put data about their foods in GS1, which is a global supply and trading system. Food manufacturers also specify the data items for release to USDA. Data are then sent through the Partnership for Public Health: Branded Food Products Database and incorporated into the Prototype FNDDS. The partnership is composed of USDA/ARS, the International Life Sciences Institute North America and the Agricultural Technology Innovation Partnership Foundation. The Prototype FNDDS, a modified version of the standard FNDDS that provides nutrient values for foods and beverages reported in What We Eat in America, NHANES, is not intended for use in WWEIA, NHANES at this time. Data provided by food manufacturers through GS1 have been added as new variables or incorporated into existing variables in the FNDDS database directly or with modification. Documentation describing the database structure and the data accompanies the database.