11
Food Composition
Hettie C Schönfeldt and Joanne M Holden
Key messages- Reliable good-quality composition data of foods for human con-
sumption are critical resources for a variety of applications. - These data are required for a spectrum of users ranging from
international to national, regional, household, and individual
levels. - In general, data obtained on food intake by individuals, or groups
of individuals, are used to estimate the consumption of nutrients
and to establish nutritional requirements and health guidelines. - The determination of the consumption of nutrients can be
achieved either by analyzing the foods consumed directly (by far
the most accurate, but also the most costly method) or by using
food composition tables/databases. - The food described in the food composition table should be rec-
ognizably similar to that being consumed by the individual or
group.
© 2009 HC Schönfeldt and JM Holden.
- Factors such as sampling, variability and analytical methods
involved must be considered when developing such tables. - Inadequacies of food composition tables can be minimized by
calculating nutrient losses and gains during food processing and
preparation. - New activities in food composition include:
- future composition tables could include bioavailability and the
glycemic index - harmonizing food composition tables regionally
- focusing on biodiversity within species
- investigation of the composition of specifi c traditional and
ethnic foods - bioactives in foods and their effect on health and well-being
- food composition data and their role in nutrition and health
claims.
- future composition tables could include bioavailability and the
11.1 Introduction
Although the amount, quality and availability of food
composition data vary among countries and regions,
in general most developing countries still do not have
adequate and reliable data. This is despite the fact that
the components of specifi c foods have been published
for over 150 years. Over time food composition data
have assumed more scientifi c, academic, and political
importance owing to their utility. Refer to Table 11.1
for practical examples of the uses of food composi-
tion data. It was only in 1961 that a regional food
composition table was developed and published for
Latin America, followed by a food composition table
for Africa (1968), the Near East (1970), and Asia
(1972). The data in these tables were based on a very
limited number of samples, a limited number of
nutrients and, in today’s terms, outdated analytical
methodologies. However, these tables are still being
used today as there are limited up-to-date tables avail-
able. Worldwide there are currently over 150 food
composition tables or nutrient databases, or their
electronic/magnetic equivalents, in use. Many tables
are based on the data from the United States
Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National
Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, SR,
available on the Nutrient Data Laboratory’s web site:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/nutrientdata. A comprehensive list
of the food composition tables available can be
obtained from the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations (FAO) homepage on the World
Wide Web (http://www.fao.org/infoods/directory).
EuroFIR, the European Food Information Resource
Consortium, is a partnership between 40 universities,
research institutes, and small to-medium-sized enter-
prises from 25 countries in Europe. EuroFIR aims to
develop and integrate a comprehensive cohort and
validated network of databanks of food composition