Food Composition 283The EuroFIR BASIS bioactives database includes
critically assessed composition data on the bioactives
present in edible plants and plant-based foods as well
as compilation of critically assessed data on their
biological effect (http://www.eurofi r.net).
Criteria for inclusion in tables
As the number of nutrients is reasonably infi nite, it is
to some extent easier to choose and prioritize food
items. Core nutrients for a nutritional database include
the major proximate constituents, those that are essen-
tial, and those for which there are recommended
intakes. The inclusion of micronutrients, especially
trace elements, fatty acid profi les, amino acid compo-
sition and the various forms of vitamins is normally
limited by the resources available. Many databases give
limited coverage of the carbohydrates and carotenoids
in foods, but methods are available and this limitation
will probably disappear in the future.
Nutrients to be included in the food composition
table will depend on the proposed use of the table.
For instance, when assessing nutrient intake, two
types of nutrients can often be distinguished: those
nutrients that are found in small quantities in a large
number of foods, such as iron and most of the B
vitamins, and those that are found in large quantities
in a small number of foods, such as cholesterol and
vitamin A. The FAO limits the inclusion of nutrients
in the table for group feeding schemes to 11 nutrients
per 100 g of edible portion. The nutrients that have
been selected as the most important for developing
countries are energy, protein, fat, calcium, iron,
vitamin A, thiamine, ribofl avin, niacin, folate, and
vitamin C.
Complete coverage of all nutrients in a single food
database is unlikely, as priorities are set according to
the importance of a food in the provision of a nutri-
ent, resulting normally in analyses of proximates and
major nutrients. However, with the growing interest
in the role of biologically active compounds, residues,
and toxicants in food there is increased pressure to
include these in special-purpose food composition
tables. Phytochemicals or phytoprotectants, often
used in functional foods, are bioactive compounds
found in food that may have benefi ts to human
health.
A provisional database for food fl avonoid compo-
sition has been developed and is maintained by the
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on
its National Nutrient Databank website (http://www.
ars.usda.gov/nutrientdata). The database contains
values for 385 food items for fi ve subclasses of fl avo-
noids namely fl avonols, fl avones, fl avanones, fl avan-
3-ols, and anthocyanidins.
A European network established to compile and
evaluate data on natural food plant toxicants, the EU
AIR Concerted Action NETTOX, has previously iden-
tifi ed 31 major compound classes called the NETTOX:
a list of toxicant classes with 307 major food plants
listed in Europe. This list, now known as the EuroFIR
NETTOX plant list (http://www.eurofi r.net) has
recently been published after being updated to include
additional plant parts. The list now includes 550
benefi cial biological effect outputs of the bioactive
compounds of 328 edible plants. This list facilitates
calculations of exposure to bioactive compounds
such as fl avanols, phenolic compounds, phytosterols,
carotenoids, isofl avones, and lignans.
For a food composition database to include all
these substances will imply that there may be an over-
emphasis on “nonnutrients.” In general, levels of pes-
ticides, residues, toxicants, and additives in food, with
the exception of those that contribute to energy and
nutrients, are often not reported in food composition
tables.Modes of expression
An increasing amount of attention is being paid to
how data are presented in food composition tables.
Interchange and compatibility of food composition
databases are only possible if the data are uniformly
expressed. To overcome ambiguities in the naming of
nutrients and also to allow for the transfer of data
among food composition tables, INFOODS has
developed a system for identifying food components,
referred to as tags. The term “tag” refers to the signifi -
cant part of a generic identifi er. Generic identifi ers are
predefi ned word-like strings of characters used to dis-
tinguish one element type from another. An example
of a tagname and its defi nition is presented in Table
11.5. The latest information on this system is available
on the World Wide Web via the INFOODS home page
(http://www.fao.org/infoods). As already mentioned,
LanguaL is a multilingual system that provides a stan-
dardized language for describing food products using
faceted classifi cation. Each food is described by a set
of standard, controlled terms chosen from facets
characteristic of the nutritional and/or hygienic