Abstract
Food composition data is important for stakeholders and users active in the areas of food, nutrition and health. New challenges related to the quality of food composition data reflect the dynamic changes in these areas while the emerging technologies create new opportunities. These challenges and the impact on food composition data for the Mediterranean region were reviewed during the NUTRIMAD 2018 congress of the Spanish Society for Community Nutrition. Data harmonization and standardization, data compilation and use, thesauri, food classification and description, and data exchange are some of the areas that require new approaches. Consistency in documentation, linking of information between datasets, food matching and capturing portion size information suggest the need for new automated tools. Research Infrastructures bring together key data and services. The delivery of sustainable networks and Research Infrastructures in food, nutrition and health will help to increase access to and effective use of food composition data. EuroFIR AISBL coordinates experts and national compilers and contributes to worldwide efforts aiming to produce and maintain high quality data and tools. A Mediterranean Network that shares high quality food composition data is vital for the development of ambitious common research and policy initiatives in support of the Mediterranean Diet.
Highlights
IntroductionFood composition data is important for a wide range of stakeholders and users including researchers, public food and health policymakers, healthcare professionals, industry (food, agriculture, software developers), consumers and for educational purposes
Food composition data is important for a wide range of stakeholders and users including researchers, public food and health policymakers, healthcare professionals, industry, consumers and for educational purposes
This paper identifies the main challenges in producing and compiling high quality food composition data and reviews progress on harmonization and standardization of data and developments in tools and software that benefit both compilers and users
Summary
Food composition data is important for a wide range of stakeholders and users including researchers, public food and health policymakers, healthcare professionals, industry (food, agriculture, software developers), consumers and for educational purposes. Each of these groups has different uses for the data and individual users within the groups may have very different requirements and expectations of the data. Nutritional information is available for many branded food products, those produced by large manufacturers and sold by major retailers While this data is available for individual products (through retailer and manufacturer websites), compiled datasets have not been widely used for research purposes. The paper describes the current state and future challenges of food composition databases (FCDBs) in the Mediterranean countries, Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal, as discussed during NUTRIMAD 2018, the 12th Congress of the Spanish Society for Community Nutrition that was jointly held with the 4th World Congress of Public Health and Nutrition in Madrid between 24 and 27 October 2018 [8]
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