Location: Methods and Application of Food Composition Laboratory
Project Number: 8040-52000-068-003-I
Project Type: Interagency Reimbursable Agreement
Start Date: Sep 16, 2014
End Date: Aug 14, 2019
Objective:
To monitor sodium and related nutrients in Sentinel Foods and other major sodium contributing foods through nationwide sampling and analyses, and disseminate data to the public and scientific community. Thirty-two foods will be analyzed in FY 2015.
Approach:
The Cooperator (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) (CDC) and USDA/ARS will monitor the amount of sodium and related nutrients (total and saturated fat, total sugar, total dietary fiber, and potassium) in restaurant and commercially processed food. USDA in collaboration with CDC developed a list of sentinel foods that serves as key indicator foods to identify changes in sodium within the food supply. Selection of sentinel foods was based on data from What We Eat in America (WWEIA), National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Monitoring of the sentinel foods will provide an early indication of how sodium and related nutrients are changing in the U.S. food supply and is a focus of further investigations and assessment. Further, USDA will conduct label and other reviews to update the sodium content of other commercially processed and restaurant foods in the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (SR). The data will be disseminated through SR, Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS), and as public data sets available on a separate section of the ARS/NDL website.
