University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Agricultural Research Magazine Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska 3-2012 The Second Step—Conservators of the National Nutrient Database Rosalie Marion Bliss USDA-ARS, [email protected] Joanne Holden USDA-ARS, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usdaagresmag Part of the Agriculture Commons, Animal Sciences Commons, Food Science Commons, and the Plant Sciences Commons Bliss, Rosalie Marion and Holden, Joanne, "The Second Step—Conservators of the National Nutrient Database" (2012). Agricultural Research Magazine. 138. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usdaagresmag/138 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. 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The Second Step—Conservators of the National Nutrient Database 1XWULWLRQ0RQLWRULQJ AThree-Part Series ● Monitoring Best Practices for compiling their food-composition data- work with a large number of industry Food Analysis p. 4 bases. “The Standard Reference—called groups, because they recognize the value ● Monitoring Food-Supply ‘SR’for short—is thefoundation of almost of being represented in the publicly avail- all of the food and nutrition databases, able SR database.” Nutrients p. 8 whether commercial or nonprofit, used The SR database includes more than ● Monitoring the U.S. Population’s in the United States,” says Holden. “It is 7,900 foods—and provides nutrient- Diet p.16 critical for national food policymakers, composition values, called “nutrient researchers, and those responsible for profiles,” for each of these food entries. monitoring nutritional status and dietary SR is available both online and via free intake.” download. There is no intellectual prop- The laboratory’s researchers have de- erty restriction on the database—which veloped a system for getting commonly is updated annually—and academic, non- consumed foods identified, obtained, and profit, commercial, and other governmental analyzed for their nutrient content, says scientific communities are encouraged to or more than 115 years, the U.S. NDL nutritionist David Haytowitz. “We download it. Department of Agriculture has provided data on the nutrient composition of foods in the The food industry is responsible for the accuracy of nutrition facts panels required on packaged-food American diet. Over time, aseries of USDA labels. Some food manufacturers use data from the national nutrient databases, provided by the F Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, to calculate values. institutions responsible for providing this data evolved, and today the data comes from the Beltsville Human Nutrition Re- search Center (BHNRC), part of USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. “Our mission is to ensure that science- based nutrient profiles exist for the U.S. food supply,”says nutritionist and research leader Joanne Holden, who heads the Nu- trient Data Laboratory (NDL) at the nutri- tion center, which is located in Beltsville, Maryland. “We work with other BHNRC, private, and public-sector scientists to ac- quire, evaluate, and disseminate accurate nutrient-profile data on foods—and now certain dietary supplements—consumed in the United States.” (See “National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program,”page 14.) Researchers at NDLare the conservators of theNationalNutrientDatabasefor Stan- dard Reference, the major authoritative source of information about food compo- sition used in the United States. Some of the data is also used by other countries in STEPHEN AUSMUS (D1830-30) 8 Agricultural Research O March 2012 9255_March2012r2-15.indd 8 2/15/12 11:50 AM A Moving Target A major challenge in keeping the SR database current, according to Holden, ,QVLGHWKH1XWULHQW 'DWD/DERUDWRU\ is that the U.S. food supply has changed STEPHEN AUSMUS (D2440-1) dramatically and has become increasingly To get an idea of the breadth of dynamic. Studies have shown that about 30 users of the National Nutrient Data- years ago, more people cooked at home. Now, people often pick up what are called base for Standard Reference (SR), “multi-component”prepared foods from a $JULFXOWXUDO5HVHDUFK magazine sat widevariety of restaurants and ready-to-eat down with Nutrient Data Laboratory market counters nationwide. research leader and nutritionist Another challenge is that across the Joanne Holden (left) to learn more. United States, there are hundreds of thou- sands of food products in stores—and some come on and off the market annually. More Q: How many users download the national nutrient database annually? than 600,000 unique Universal Product A: Because SR is available free, its use in business, industry, and Codes, often called “barcodes,” are found even academia often goes uncited. Once downloaded, the database on the products in these grocery stores. can be further conveyed in any number of ways, so we can’t track Each barcode includes a unique 12-digit users by counting downloads from our government site alone. manufacturer identification number, and different barcodes are created for differ- Q: What types of commercial hardware and software utilize the da- ent sizes of the same individual product. tabase via download and import? Store managers use the barcodes to track A: Personal and business computers, hand-held devices, mobile inventories and to price items. applications, commercial retail and proprietary software packages, While SR provides a nutrient profile for online tools, and more. more than 7,900 foods, each nutrient profile for each food entry can include about 140 Q: Who are the SR database users? nutrients and other dietary components. A: Our data underlies virtually all research into the nutrition/health In contrast, packaged-food labels carry connection. Users include public policymakers, public and private only about 15 nutrients. “One reason educators, medical and nutrition researchers, regulators, the food we don’t rely solely on a manufacturer’s and supplement industries, consumers, and commercial businesses. label nutrient data is that the label does not provide all the information we need,” Q: Which policymakers use the data? says Haytowitz. A: In addition to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, policy So how do NDL researchers accurately users of the data are federal nutrition assistance programs. These track the food supply to create nutrient include USDA’s Child Nutrition (school meals) and Supplemental profiles? They continuously monitor Nutrition Assistance (food stamps) Programs and the Special Supple- the food supply using annual data from mental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (the WIC the BHNRC national “What We Eat in America” survey and other sources. program). The Department of Defense uses NDL data to formulate They learn of newer products that have feeding programs for soldiers. And international organizations use become popular in the United States as the data for interventions in countries with malnutrition. survey respondents report having eaten Q: Are creators of U.S. commercial retail products for sale that in- the new foods. When the survey uncovers corporate SR required to pay a government licensing fee? popular new foods, “we add them to our sampling and analytical program,”says A: No, the USDA-ARS national nutrient databases are available Haytowitz. “In that program, we arrange copyright free as a government service. for the purchase of representative samples of foods from all over the country to be analyzed using scientifically validated analysis methods, so that the data rep- and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Accuracy Is Key resents average values across the country.” National Institutes of Health (NIH), which “Scientifically validated analytical This careful sampling of the foodsupply also need representative data for research methods are key to our ability to produce is important to other government entities studies and for policy development. (See accurate nutrient profiles and therefore as well, such as the Centers for Disease “The National Food and Nutrient Analysis to the integrity of the SR database,” says Control and Prevention, the U.S. Food Program,”page 14.) Holden. While many foods come on and Agricultural Research O March 2012 9 9255_March2012r2-15.indd 9 2/15/12 11:50 AM off the market quickly, NDL has fine- submission, which can be accessed tuned methods for honing in on foods at www.Papayahead.com. “There is with staying power and for those that no better source of real science-based contain “emerging”compounds impor- nutrient data,”says Jenkins. “We tant for researchers. Such compounds wanted to use the nutrient data to cre- include, for example, phytoestrogens ate a product that allows any family or called “isoflavones” and other plant- child to make informed choices about based compounds called “flavonoids.” “We make sure a valid nutrient profile on what they eat, anywhere, in a fun, easy, These compounds make up supplemental popularly eaten foods is in, or added to, our and interactive way.” databases that complement the core SR databases to keep current,”says Holden. Jenkins mostly uses a “freemium” database. Making Nutrition Fun and Games business model, which provides basic, The laboratory also has methods for After