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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 #423887
Research Project: Improved National Dietary Assessment and the Relationship of Dietary Intake to the Environmental Impact of Foods and Beverages

Location: Food Surveys Research Group

Title: Food patterns equivalents database: Development parameters and implications for the future

Author
item Waller, Anna
item Martin, Carrie
item MORTON, SUZANNE - American Society For Nutrition
item Friday, James
item Myrowitz, Rebecca
item Moshfegh, Alanna

Submitted to: Journal of Food Composition and Analysis
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/26/2025
Publication Date: 5/27/2025
Citation: Waller, A.W., Martin, C.L., Morton, S., Friday, J.E., Myrowitz, R., Moshfegh, A.J. 2025. Food patterns equivalents database: Development parameters and implications for the future. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 145. Article 107853. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2025.107853.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2025.107853

Interpretive Summary: The Food Patterns Equivalents Database (FPED) characterizes foods found in the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS) based on the 37 USDA Food Pattern components. FPED allows researchers a unique way to compare diets to the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). Over the past two decades, there have been 10 versions of FPED released. While FPED’s purpose has remained the same, its methodology has evolved in tandem with FNDDS. Several federal nutrition policies and programs rely on FPED for their development, maintenance, and monitoring. In this work, the history of FPED, its methodology, and related policies and programs are described. The most recent FPED, the FPED for Use with What We Eat in America, NHANES 2017-March 2020 Prepandemic, as well as all previous versions are publicly available at www.ars.usda.gov/nea/bhnrc/fsrg. FPED has potential to link nutrition, agriculture, and food economics and is useful to researchers, nutritionists, nutrition educators, economists, and policymakers, particularly to evaluate how well Americans adhere to the DGA recommendations.

Technical Abstract: The Food Patterns Equivalents Database (FPED) characterizes foods found in the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS) based on the 37 USDA Food Pattern components. FPED allows researchers a unique way to compare diets to the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Over the past two decades, there have been 10 versions of FPED released. While FPED’s purpose has remained the same, its methodology has evolved in tandem with FNDDS. Several federal nutrition policies and programs rely on FPED for their development, maintenance, and monitoring. In this work, the history of FPED, its methodology, and related policies and programs are described.