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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BHNRC) » Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center » Food Surveys Research Group » Docs » DMR - Food Categories

  • What are WWEIA
    Food Categories?
  • How are they
    to be used?
  • Files
     

The What We Eat in America (WWEIA) Food Categories provide an application to analyze foods and beverages as consumed in the American diet. Each of the food and beverage items that can be reported in WWEIA, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey are placed in one of the mutually exclusive food categories. This is done by linking each food code contained in the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS) to one WWEIA category. The focus of this categorization system is on grouping similar foods and beverages together based on usage and nutrient content.

  • This classification scheme includes approximately 170 unique categories.
  • Each category is assigned a 4-digit number and description.
  • Each FNDDS food code is linked to a unique category.
  • Categories contain discrete food items - no disaggregation into ingredients; e.g., pizza vs. grain, cheese, tomatoes, etc.

List of WWEIA Food Categories 2021-2023