Food composition databases

Food composition databases (FCDBs) provide detailed information on the nutritional composition of foods, and are usually country specific. Food composition data are available in different formats e.g. paper-based, often referred to as food composition tables, or electronic versions, known as nutrient databases or databanks. FCDBs provide values for energy and nutrients (e.g. protein, vitamins and minerals) and other important food components (e.g. fibre) for each of the foods listed. These values are either based on chemical analysis which are carried out in analytical laboratories or are estimated from other appropriate data.

Data on the composition of foods are essential for a variety of purposes in many different fields of work, for example the assessment of energy and nutrient intake of individuals or groups. They are also necessary to assess the effect of diet on health and disease outcomes and therefore are an essential pre-requisite to epidemiological research. Ultimately, they help in the development of dietary guidelines for population groups and in planning menus for schools, hospitals, prisons and the armed forces. They have even been used to plan the food ration requirements for polar expeditions. The wide range of applications in a variety of other sectors include clinical dietetic practice, sports nutrition, the food industry (e.g. product development and food labeling), government food and health departments (e.g. target setting) and in nutrition education and health promotion.

The EuroFIR Project
The European Food Information Resource Network (EuroFIR) is a five year project funded by the European Commission through the EU Sixth Framework Programme. The main objective of EuroFIR is to develop an online portal to high quality, up-to-date food composition data across Europe, for the first time, bringing them together in one place. This portal will also provide access to specialised databases with data on, for example, the amounts of trans fatty acids present in a food or their bioactive compound content (e.g. lycopene in tomatoes or flavonoids in cocoa). The data provided by the portal will give a wide variety of users access to the best available nutritional information about food.

EuroFIR is a partnership involving 46 universities, research institutes and small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) from 26 European countries. The EuroFIR Network has an important role in supporting the development of FCDBs and ensuring their future viability, as well as providing guidelines for and supporting national database compilers. Members of the EurFIR network are also involved in the Commnet network, which aims to promote best practice in science communication.