NUTRIENT DATA LABORATORY

About the Nutrient Data Laboratory

Mission

To develop authoritative food composition databases and state of the art methods to acquire, evaluate, compile and disseminate composition data on foods available in the United States.

Organization
The Nutrient Data Laboratory (NDL) is one of seven units in the Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center (BHNRC) of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). NDL and its predecessor organizations in USDA have been compiling and developing food composition databases for over a century. NDL has an interdisciplinary staff composed of nutritionists, dietitians, food technologists, and computer specialists.

Research Leader: Ms. Joanne Holden
E-mail: jholden@rbhnrc.usda.gov
Phone: 301-504-0630; FAX: 301-504-0632

Projects

The major project of NDL is to maintain USDA National Nutrient Databank. A number of products are developed from this database including the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, and a number of special interest databases.

One of our major stakeholders is our sister group in BHNRC, the Food Surveys Research Group. We provide them with the nutrient database used in the National Food Surveys to monitor nutrient intakes. Food recipes and other information are also provided to support the survey.

To better evaluate, compile and disseminate this data NDL has developed a new databank system, the Architecture and Integration Management--Nutrient Databank System (AIM_NDBS). This system fully integrates NDL's data processing flow, and incorporates powerful new functionality for data quality evaluation, calculation of nutrient retentions and food yields, formulation/recipe estimations, and dissemination of data in a variety of formats.

To improve the quantity and quality of the nutrient data in the databank NDL in cooperation with the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NIH), has initiated the National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program (NFNAP)

We are working with the Office of Dietary Supplements and other federal agencies to plan and develop a Dietary Supplement Ingredient Database (DSID) to monitor the levels of ingredients in dietary supplement products. The DSID is being developed in parallel with NDL’s ongoing research effort, the National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program in which high consumption food products are identified, sampled and analyzed. Accurate and complete information on the composition of dietary supplements is essential for determining their contribution to the nation’s dietary intake.

Uses of Data

Historical -- 110 Years of USDA food composition tables

The USDA has borne the fundamental responsibility of characterizing the nutrient content of the U.S. national food supply for 110 years. The first food composition tables were published in 1891 by W.O. Atwater and C.D. Woods, who assayed the refuse, water, fat, protein, ash, and carbohydrate content of approximately 200 different foods.

Today, the National Nutrient Data Bank is a repository of information for 100 nutrients for over 7,300 foods. Until 1992, most of this information was published in the form of Agriculture Handbook 8 (AH-8). However, AH-8 is no longer available in printed form. In the interest of timely releases, the information contained in AH-8 is now provided in our principle database--the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (SR)--on both our Web site and on CD-ROM.

Core data for commercial and many foreign databases

Food Composition Products developed by NDL include the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference and the food composition database for the National Food Surveys. These databases are the foundation of virtually all public and commercial nutrient databases used in the United States and a number of foreign countries. In addition, the USDA data are used for special purpose applications by food companies, trade associations, and research institutions.

Epidemiological research/national nutritional policy planning

SR and PDS food composition data are the numerical foundation of essentially all public and private work in the field of human nutrition. Within the Federal government, such efforts encompass metabolic and epidemiologic research, dietary treatment of disease, dietary guidance for healthy individuals, and planning and implementation of national nutrition policies. Nutrition monitoring activities and their results depend heavily on USDA's food composition data.

Dietetics and Food Service

In the private sector, food composition data are used in dietary therapy of patients in hospitals and community settings, formal and self-directed nutrition education programs for adults and children, and preventive guidance for obstetric, pediatric, and geriatric populations. The data are essential to the calculation of school, hospital, nursing home, and other institutional menus.

Last modification Date: October 13, 2004