Table Of ContentFOOD COMPOSITION DATA
Production, Management and Use
FOOD COMPOSITION DATA
Production, Management and Use
by
H. GREENFIELD
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
and
D. A. T. SOUTHGATE
AFRC Institute of Food Research. Nont'ich. UK
CEC AGRO-INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
First published in 1992 by Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd
Reprinted with corrections in 1994 by Chapman & Hall
© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Chapman & Hall in 1992
ISBN 978-1-4613-6573-0 ISBN 978-1-4615-3544-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4615-3544-7
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v
Foreword
About twenty years ago, there was a recognition in Europe that real benefits would flow from
coordinating the manner in which food composition tables were produced in the various
countries of Europe. Subsequent development of computerised nutritional data bases has
further highlighted the potential advantages of working together. Such cooperation could
lead to improved quality and compatibility of the various European nutrient data bases and
the values within them. This realisation was one of the driving forces behind the development
of the Eurofoods initiative in the 1980's when those people in Europe interested in data on
food composition began working together. This initiative received further impetus with the
establishment of the Eurofoods-Enfant Concerted Action Project within the framework of the
FLAIR (Food-Linked Agro-Industrial Research) Programme of the Commission of the
European Communities.
It was quickly recognised that the draft guidelines for the production, management and use of
food composition data which had been prepared under the aegis of INFOODS (International
Network of Food Data Systems, a project of the United Nations University), would be
especially applicable to the objectives of the Concerted Action. The guidelines have been
written by two recognised experts. Many people associated with FLAIR Eurofoods-Enfant
have added constructive criticism and advice to that offered previously by those associated
with INFOODS. Thus the guidelines are backed by a consensus in the community of those
responsible for the production and use of food composition tables and nutrient data bases.
I am sure that the book will be regarded by those concerned with the production and use of
nutritional compositional data as a lighthouse on an ocean with poor visibility, many hazards
and shipwrecks. It will provide invaluable light not only for people in Europe but also for
those on other continents across the oceans.
Clive E. West
Project Manager
FLAIR Eurofoods-Enfant Project
Wageningen, February 1992.
vii
Preface
In 1972 a working party of the Group of European Nutritionists met in Zurich (Switzerland)
to consider the principles that should be used in preparing national tables of food
composition. A small book based on a working paper for this conference and describing
guidelines for the preparation of such tables was subsequently published (Southgate, 1974).
During those discussions it became clear that in the future more tables providing international
coverage (e.g. for all of Europe) would be needed. Since then, widespread advances in
computer techniques have made the creation of such international data bases technically
feasible; their development is impeded, however, by the variable analytical quality, the
incompatibilities, and even the unknown provenance of existing compositional data.
Furthermore, large areas of the world remain where little information on food composition is
available.
In 1983 a conference was held at Bellagio (Italy), under the auspices of the United Nations
University, to identify the tasks that needed to be carried out in order for internationally
valid, consistent, and usable food composition data to become available. During the discussions
the creation of an International Network of Food Data Systems (INFOODS) was proposed
(Rand & Young, 1983).
One of the ftrst tasks for INFOODS was to revise and extend the earlier Southgate (1974)
guidelines, which addressed issues relevant to the central problem of data quality and
compatibility. Accordingly, one of us (HG) spent four months as an INFOODS Fellow
working with the original guidelines' author (DATS) at the Food Research Institute in Norwich
(UK). This initial work, continued and completed by correspondence, drew information from
production and management of food composition data in the UK and US and from Australian
experience of producing data. In January 1985, a partially completed version was reviewed
by a working group in Washington, DC (USA). A revised version, prepared on the basis of
this review, was reviewed again by a number of international authorities; their comments
were used in the version prepared in 1986.
After reviews by experts in the computer fteld, and considerable inputs from participants in
the FLAIR Concerted Action No. 12 Eurofoods-Enfant Project, the final revised version was
prepared by correspondence and meetings between the authors while one of us (HG) was a
Visiting Scientist at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon (France)
in connection with the Nutrition and Cancer Programme.
In preparing a document of this kind personal feelings and prejudices inevitably emerge; they
are the responsibilities of the authors alone, who nonetheless beg their readers to remember
that these idiosyncrasies developed during lengthy consideration of nutritional compositional
data, their production and use.
viii
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to INFOODS (Chair, Dr. V. R. Young) for providing the initial impetus for
the project and for fmancial support which enabled its commencement. Thanks are also due
to Prof. R. F. Curtis, AFRC Food Research Institute, Norwich (UK) for administrative support
of the first phase of the project. In addition, thanks are due to the many people who contributed
ideas, skills or information for the initial draft. They include: the INFOODS review committee
members, N-G. Asp, R. Bressani, M. Deutsch, H. Herstel, J.C. Klensin, J. Pennington,
W.M. Rand, R. Sawyer, W. Wolf, V.R. Young. In the UK: A. Broadhurst, D.H. Buss,
J.R. Cooke, K.C. Day, R.M. Faulks, A.A. Paul, L. Stockley, G. Mason, E.M. Widdowson. In
the USA: G. Beecher, F. Hepburn, J. Holden, B. Perloff, K.K. Stewart. In Italy: F. Fidanza,
J. Peri sse, W. Polacchi. In the Netherlands: R. Breedveld, A.B. Cramwinckel, M.B. Katan,
M. van Stigt Thans, C.E. West. In Indonesia: Darwin Karyadi. In Thailand: Aree Valyasevi,
Kraisid Tontisirin. In India: K. Pant, K. Doesthale, B.S. Narasinga Rao. In Australia:
K. Cashel, R. English, G. Hutchison, A.R. Johnson, J.H. Makinson, A.S. Truswell,
R.B.H. Wills, M. Wootton. In Sweden: A. Bruce, L. Bergstrom.
We are particularly grateful to Dr C.E. West and the FLAIR Concerted Action No. 12
Eurofoods-Enfant Project for enabling the completion and publication of this book and to
Dr L. Tomatis (Director) and Dr E. Riboli (Head, Nutrition and Cancer Programme) of the
International Agency for Research on Cancer for administrative support for completion of the
book for publication. Our thanks are due to the participants of the FLAIR Eurofoods-Enfant
Concerted Action for reviewing the final draft: A. Amorin Cruz (Portugal), W. Becker
(Sweden), H.K. Hendrickx (Belgium), P. Hollman (Netherlands), M.T. Fernandez Munoz
(Spain), I. Martins (Portugal), D.L. Massart (Belgium), M.L. Ovaskainen (Finland),
A.H. Rimestad (Norway), I. Torelm (Sweden) and C.E. West (Netherlands). We are very
grateful for their comments which have been extremely valuable in preparing the final
version. Thanks are due also to W. Horwitz for comments on Chapter 6.
We also acknowledge the advice of J. Cheney, B. Hernon and M. Friesen (IARC), and of the
skilled assistance of H. Miido and staff (bibliography), MJ. Dechaux (figures), S. Somerville
(secretarial assistance) and E. Heseltine (preparation of the camera-ready text and index for
publication).
ix
Contents
Foreword v
Preface ................................................................................................................ vii
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. viii
Chapter 1. Introduction ............................... ............ ............ .................... .................. 1
Chapter 2. Food composition data and data bases ................................... ................. 3
Chapter 3. Initiation and organisation of a food composition data
base programme ...................................................................................... 15
Chapter 4. The selection of foods ......... .... .... .................................................... ........ 23
Chapter 5. The selection of nutrients and other components ................................... 33
Chapter 6. Sampling ................................................................................................. 45
Chapter 7. Analytical methods for the production of food composition data ....... 73
Chapter 8. Assuring the quality of analytical data ................................................... 127
Chapter 9. Conventions and modes of expression of food composition data .......... 139
Chapter 10. Quality considerations in the compilation of a food composition
data base.................................................................................................. 147
Chapter 11. Guidelines for the use of food composition data........... .......... ............... 163
Chapter 12. Current needs and future directions ........................................................ 171
References ................................................................................................................ 177
Appendices 1. Methods of preparation of foods for analysis .................................... 215
2. Examples of procedures for the preparation of
analytical portions .............................................................................. 221
3. Essential booklist for food composition programmes ....................... 223
4. Useful addresses for food composition programmes ......................... 225
5. Calculation of fatty acids per 100 g food from data
for fatty acids per 100 g of total fatty acids ....................................... 227
6. Calculation of the composition of dishes prepared from recipes ...... 229
Index ................................................................................................................ 231
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
'A knowledge of the chemical composition off oods is the first essential in the dietary treatment
of disease or in any quantitative study of human nutrition' (McCance & Widdowson, 1940).
Information on the nutritional composition of foods is the essential basis for the
quantitative study of human nutrition, its application in the treatment and management of
disease and the provision of appropriate diets for individuals and populations.
In nutritional research, information on the composition of foods is essential for studies
of dietary effects on reproduction, growth and development, and for studies of the relation
between diet and health or disease. The quantitative assessment of the nutritional value of
the diet of individuals or populations likewise depends on information on the composition, as
well as on the consumption, of foods. Planning of diets, whether at the individual level or for
populations, also depends on this information.
Because of the growing interest in the nutritional quality of foods, exporting countries
and food-producing industries (from agriculture to food processing) find data on the nutritional
composition of foods to be essential.
This information is currently available primarily in the form of printed tables which,
while valuable, are limited in the amount and types of information that they can hold.
Computerised nutrient data bases not only improve the speed and accuracy of data use, but
also extend the ways in which the data can be used. For example, information from a
computerised system can more easily be accessed and utilised to provide attractive and
palatable diets, formulated to meet specifications regarding both nutrient provision and cost.
Nutritional epidemiology especially benefits from the rapidity with which computerised
food composition data systems can process data. International studies of diet and disease can
yield a great deal of valuable information. Such studies, however, depend on the availability
of nutrient data bases that are compatible not only in the types of information they hold, but
also in the overall reliability of their data.
Achieving a world-wide system of compatible nutritional composition data bases is
clearly a major task. Even in industrialised countries, such as Germany, the United Kingdom
and the USA, the creation of comprehensive food composition tables and their derivative
nutrient data bases has required the investment of considerable resources over many years;
the United Nations, through the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has played an
active role in developing compositional tables for international and regional use.
2
Although much infonnation is available on many of the foods that are widely traded,
many countries remain in which the infonnation required for creation of a comprehensive
data base does not exist. A systematic approach to the collection of this infonnation and
construction of new data bases will ensure compatibility with other data bases and systems;
attention to sampling and analysis will produce sound data.
This book was produced as a set of guidelines intended to aid individuals and
organisations concerned with the construction of food composition data bases. Its primary
objective is to show how to obtain infonnation that will meet the requirements of a nutrient
data base system. The areas of infonnation-gathering that detennine the quality of the data,
and must therefore be regulated, have been identified. These guidelines do not prescribe new
procedures or systems; indeed, they draw on experience gained in many countries where pro
grammes for the collection of compositional data have been active for many years. Similarly,
these guidelines do not provide detailed instructions for the operation of sampling protocols
or analytical methods, since individual countries and groups may already be required to
follow standard procedures set by law or by official organisations. However, the available
options are discussed along with the various factors that must be considered in the production
of useful analytical data. Thus, the guidelines may point to aspects of established programmes
that might be reviewed. Finally, throughout these chapters the needs and resources of
developing countries starting to set up a data system have been borne in mind.
Since the nutritional sciences and analytical chemistry of foods change, these guidelines
should be seen not as fixed rules, but as principles that will serve as a framework for future
developments in the production and management of food composition data.
The structure of these guidelines follows the stages in an idealised programme for
creating a comprehensive food composition data base. In Chapter 2, types of food composition
data and uses of food composition data bases are described. The overall design of a programme
for creation of a food composition data base, and its initiation, are outlined in the third chapter.
Subsequent chapters deal with the selection of foods (Chapter 4) and nutrients
(Chapter 5); the factors that detennine data quality (sampling procedures, choice of analytical
method, and quality assurance of the analytical operations) (Chapters 6, 7 and 8); fonnat and
data expression (Chapter 9); and the operations involved in compiling the data (Chapter 10).
(The question of computerised data management lies outside the scope of this book.) The
intrinsic limitations of even well-constructed food data bases constrain their usage; these
constraints are discussed in Chapter 11. Future needs in the field of food composition studies
are discussed in the closing chapter.
CHAPTER 2
FOOD COMPOSITION DATA AND FOOD COMPOSITION
DATA BASES
Early food composition studies were carried out to identify and determine the chemical
nature of the principles in foods that affect human health. These studies, which were also
concerned with the mechanisms whereby chemical constituents exert their influence,
provided the basis for the early development of the science of nutrition (McCollum, 1957)
and continue to be central to the nutritional sciences. Current knowledge of nutrition is still
incomplete, and studies are still required, often at an ever-increasing level of sophistication,
into the composition of foods and the role of these components and their interactions in
health and disease.
Somogyi (1974) reproduced a page of the earliest known food composition table, dated
1818. Ever since, it has been customary to record food composition data in printed tables for
use by both specialists and non-specialists. While printed tables will continue to be produced,
it is probable that computerised data systems will be increasingly relied on because of the
large amounts of data now being collected and the ease with which these data can be stored,
accessed and used in such systems.
While it is desirable for a nutrient data base to hold data on a range of non-nutrient
substances (e.g., additives and contaminants) that affect health, this should not detract from
the primary objective of the data base programme, the provision of data on the nutritional
value of foods.
Methods of Compiling Food Composition Data Bases
Early food composition tables were based on analyses carried out in the laboratories of
researchers such as Von Voit in Germany, Atwater in the USA and Plimmer in the UK
(Somogyi, 1974; Atwater & Woods, 1896; Widdowson, 1974). Later, the USA moved
towards compiling tables from scrutinised data produced by a number of laboratories. An
element of this procedure was introduced into the UK tables, when the third edition of
McCance and Widdowson (1960) included vitamin and amino acid values drawn from the
literature. Southgate (1974) distinguished these two methods as the direct and indirect
methods of compiling tables.
Direct method: The advantage of the direct method, in which all of the values are the
results of analyses carried out specifically for the data base being compiled, is that close
