Food Composition Database Addresses International Foods

When is a lentil not just a lentil? The Minnesota Nutrient Data System (NDS), the gold-standard food composition database for U.S. dietary research, offers nutrient data on just one lentil, the American Lentil. The entries for lentil in India’s Nutritive Value of Indian Foods tell a different tale, of the Brown Lentil, the Bengal Gram, and the Black, Green and Red Grams – all differing in nutritive values from each other and the plain old American Lentil. When our nutrition research goes global, so, too, must our ability to collect, quantify, and analyze nutrition data from other countries. With the TNC study – a multi-site study of HIV, drug abuse, and nutrition in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Chennai, India; and Hanoi, Vietnam – we are tackling the development of an international food database with the specificity and accuracy required for our dietary research.

Considerations include the agricultural impact on nutrient composition – the same lentil grown in the U.S. and India could likely have differing nutrient values based simply on soil and farming practices. Fortification and food processing standards vary country to country. In the U.S., much of the prepared food purchased outside the home is from chain suppliers. In India and Vietnam, where many people rely heavily on food prepared outside the home, it more likely comes from small independent producers, many of them street vendors.

Researchers Kristy Hendricks and Margo Woods, nutritionists Kimberly Dong and Jül Gerrior, and nutrition data specialist Jeanette Queenan have addressed these issues and others over the many months they have worked to develop the methodology behind the expanded database. As a jumping-off point, the NDS database provides the structural foundation and analytical functionality. To it, Jeanette has added the best available data from each country, in consultation with local nutrition experts. For India and Vietnam, these come from the thick, tabular books of nutritive values of foods supplied by the National Institutes of Nutrition. For Argentina, a recipe-based approach based on actual collected data proved most effective.

Standardized and precise data collection is the other key component of our research. Our team members travel to each research site to provide intensive training. In all three study locations, dietary evaluation is done through 24-hour recalls. Individual site considerations determine which food models are used to aid in determining accurate portion sizes. In Vietnam, for example, a photographic reference book of standardized portions of commonly eaten foods was created in lieu of the usual 3D food models.

All data from Argentina have been entered and are currently undergoing analysis. In Vietnam we are well underway, and in India, training is taking place as of February 2007. The nutrition data gained from the TNC Study will further our aim of understanding the overall nutrition, endocrine, and metabolic effects of HIV infection in drug-using populations. This is of particular importance in these countries, where HIV infection is largely fueled by drug use, and at this time, when a successful rollout of more widely spread highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is critical.