ARS | Publication request: USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 25

Submitted to: USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference
Publication Type: Research Technical Update
Publication Acceptance Date: September 28, 2012
Publication Date: September 28, 2012
Citation: Haytowitz, D.B., Showell, B.A., Pehrsson, P.R., Patterson, K.K., Thomas, R.G., Williams, J.R., Nickle, M.S., Roseland, J.M., Ahuja, J.K., Exler, J., Somanchi, M., Khan, M., Holden, J. 2012. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 25. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=8964.

Interpretive Summary: The USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 25 (SR25) is the major source of food composition data in the United States and provides the foundation for most public and private sector databases. SR25 contains nutrient data for over 8,100 food items and up to 146 food components, such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids. It replaces the previous release, SR24 issued in September 2011. SR25 includes new data for a number of foods analyzed under the National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program (NFNAP), a program designed to: 1) identify those foods that are the major contributors of nutrients to the U.S. diet; 2) conduct a probability-based nationwide sampling of those foods; and 3) analyze the samples under USDA-supervised laboratory contracts. A major focus of this effort was to add and update foods which are major contributors of sodium to the diet. Additionally, SR25 provides data on commercially prepared foods produced by the food industry to replace food items in the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS) which previously relied on home-prepared recipes. Numerous foods were also updated with new data obtained from the food industry or by Nutrient Data Laboratory (NDL) standard procedures. Major changes made to the SR database since the last release includes the addition over 350 new foods and their nutrient profiles. Foods added or updated include: taco shells, canned spaghetti and meatballs, frozen chicken tenders, barbecue rotisserie chicken (breast, drumstick, thigh, wing, and back (with and without skin)), sliced ready-to-eat luncheon meats (bologna, chicken, and salami), bacon (regular, low-sodium and pre-cooked), frozen meat and cheese lasagna, pot pies, dried and frozen egg products, protein shakes, iced tea and green tea. Nutrient values for whole turkeys, enhanced with added water, salt, and sodium phosphate, along with specific cuts of raw Australian beef, veal, and lamb were added to the database. Data for non-enhanced turkeys were updated. In this release, Notes on Foods were added for the following sections: Breakfast Cereals and Poultry Products. These expand upon the notes released earlier for a number of food groups. The Notes give additional information about the foods such as the definitions of lean and fat and a brief description of NDL research projects conducted to generate nutrient data. Update files are provided for users who have incorporated SR24 or earlier releases into their systems and want to perform their own updates. The data are available to search or download from the Nutrient Data Laboratory Web site (www.ars.usda.gov/nutrientdata) on the Internet. Currently, the Web site is being accessed over 120,000 times a month. Major applications of SR include the development of the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS) by USDA’s Food Surveys Research Group. The FNDDS is used to process 24-hour dietary recalls from the survey What We Eat in America, the dietary intake component of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Technical Abstract: The USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 25(SR25)contains data for over 8,100 food items for up to 146 food components. It replaces the previous release, SR24, issued in September 2011. Data in SR25 supersede values in the printed handbooks and previous electronic releases of the database. Major applications of SR include the development of the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Surveys (FNDDS) by USDA’s Food Surveys Research Group. The FNDDS is used to process 24-hour dietary recalls from the survey What We Eat in America, the dietary intake component of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Major changes made to the SR database since the last release include the addition over 350 new foods and their nutrient profiles. Foods added or updated include: taco shells, canned spaghetti and meatballs, frozen chicken tenders, barbecue rotisserie chicken (breast, drumstick, thigh, wing, and back (with and without skin)), sliced ready-to-eat luncheon meats (bologna, chicken, and salami), bacon (regular, low-sodium and pre-cooked), frozen meat and cheese lasagna, pot pies, dried and frozen egg products, protein shakes, iced tea and green tea. Nutrient values for specific cuts of raw Australian beef, veal, and lamb were added to the database. Profiles for whole turkeys, enhanced with added water, salt, and sodium phosphate were added to the database. Data for non-enhanced turkeys were also updated. A complete list of the added food items is in the ADD_FOOD file. Foods with updated nutrient values can be found in the CHG_NUTR file. A few breakfast cereals and other brand name products that are no longer on the market have been deleted. A complete list of deleted food items is in the DEL_FOOD file. In this release Notes on Foods were added for Breakfast Cereals and Poultry Products, which expand upon those released earlier. The Notes give additional information about the foods such as the definitions of lean and fat and a brief description of Nutrient Data Laboratory (NDL) research projects conducted to generate nutrient data. The database is being provided in the two relational formats (ASCII and Microsoft Access). There are four principal files: Food Description; Nutrient Data; Gram Weight; and Footnotes and six support files: Nutrient Definition; Food Group Description; Source Code; Derivation Code; Sources of Data File; and Sources of Data Link File. Update files for the database, intended for users who have obtained SR23 or earlier releases and wish to perform their own updates, are provided. An abbreviated file is provided as a flat file and as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The abbreviated file does not include values for alcohol, caffeine, phytosterols, starch, theobromine, vitamin D2, vitamin D3, individual amino acids, individual fatty acids, individual sugars, fluoride, betaine, individual tocopherols (other than a), menaquinone-4, and dihydrophylloquinone. The data are available to search or download from the NDL Web site on the Internet http://www.ars.usda.gov/nutrientdata.