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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BHNRC) » Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center » Food Surveys Research Group » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #181369

Title: WHAT'S IN THE FOOD YOU EAT SEARCH TOOL

Author
item Lacomb, Randy
item Maroulis, Jeffrey
item Enns, Cecilia
item Raper, Nancy
item Moshfegh, Alanna

Submitted to: World Wide Web
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/27/2005
Publication Date: 7/28/2005
Citation: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service. 2005. What's in the foods you eat search tool. Available: http://www.ars.usda.gov/ba/bhnrc/fsrg

Interpretive Summary: Americans want to have easy and free access to nutritional information about typical foods that they eat every day. What's In The Foods We Eat Search Tool, available on the Food Surveys Research Group website at www.barc.usda.gov/bhnrc/foodsurvey, provides that information. The online search tool has been developed to allow users to easily find typical foods consumed in the U.S., view portions and weights for a food, define a food amount and then view the nutrient values. Each of the results from the search can be printed by the user. The search tool uses the data files in the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS), a technical database for nutrition researchers. What's In The Foods We Eat Search Tool expands usability of the FNDDS beyond nutrition researchers to the general public. By providing information on the nutrient values in typically consumed foods, What's In The Foods We Eat Search Tool will help Americans make informed decisions about food choices.

Technical Abstract: The release of the online search tool, What's In The Foods We Eat Search Tool, expands the use of a valuable dietary research tool, the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS), to the general public and nutrition professionals. Release 1.0 of the FNDDS was used to process food intakes from What We Eat in America/NHANES 2001-2002. The search tool includes an extensive array of information from the FNDDS, including descriptions for about 13,500 foods, over 30,000 weights for common portions, and complete data for food energy and 60 nutrients/food components. Foods and portion sizes included represent current information on what respondents reported in the What We Eat in America survey. The search tool includes easy to understand instructions for searching a food, viewing a food's measures and weights, and defining an amount of food based on a food's measure. Nutrient values for the defined food amount are calculated and viewed online. The search tool is available at the Food Surveys Research Group's website at www.barc.usda.gov/bhnrc/foodsurvey.