Food Composition Activities in the English-speaking Caribbean (CARICOMFOODS)

Abstract

The focus of food composition activities in the English-speaking Caribbean is the establishment of CARICOMFOODS as the regional data center. This project will be of particular value in the areas of nutrition research and education, food consumption studies and product development, food trade and food and agricultural policy development and guidelines. The data center will be housed at the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute, a PAHO Regional Center in Jamaica and managed by a Regional Food Composition Steering Committee.Two major limitations characterize current food composition data in the English-speaking Caribbean:•the incompleteness of nutrient profiles of foods especially with regards to lipids, minerals and dietary fibre,•a discernible absence of nutrient data on a number of foods commonly consumed by peoples of the Caribbean as well as data on composite dishes prepared by traditional cooking procedures.To address the limitations, the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI) has embarked on a structured regional programme to create an up-to-date nutrient database of foods consumed. The planned five-year development programme aims at compiling nutrient information in a computerized database (CARICOMFOODS) in a form which facilitates regional and international access and interchange. The regional programme includes•identification of commonly consumed single foods and prepared dishes;•chemical analyses of selected foods/dishes;•collation of compositional data drawn from published and unpublished sources;•calculation of nutrient content of cultural recipes; and•establishment of Caribbean Food Images Library.