Location: Methods and Application of Food Composition Laboratory
2021 Annual Report
Accomplishments
1. Ingredients in commercial packaged foods. Commercially packaged foods are an integral part of the U.S. diet and are important contributors to the food security and nutrient intake. There is a lack of information in the scientific literature on the ingredients used in packaged foods. USDA’s Global Branded Food Products Database makes publicly available a compiled dataset of ingredient lists for over 350,000 commercial food products. Researchers at Beltsville, Maryland, have developed a framework for parsing and systematic reporting ingredients used in commercially packaged foods which can help improve the understanding of the ingredients enhacing the traditional nutrient profiles using new tools.
2. Nutrient similarities and dietary diversification. One in three people in the world suffers from some form of malnutrition. A possible solution to malnutrition is dietary diversity, especially diversifying plant food consumption. However, there has not been a suitable method to guide the acquisition of balanced nutrients from diverse plant sources. Researchers at Beltsville, Maryland, have developed a tool for categorizing raw plant foods based on the similarity of nutrients. This is the first report of a nutrient-based food categorization system. Importantly, this process can be used to guide the development of other food categorization systems for nutrient diversification.
Review Publications
Ma, P., Li, A., Yu, N., Bahadur, R., Qin, W., Li, Y., Ahuja, J.K. 2021. Application of machine learning for predicting label nutrients using USDA Global Branded Food Products Database (BFPD). Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2021.103857.
Ahuja, J.K., Li, Y., Bahadur, R., Nguyen, Q., Haile, E., Pehrsson, P.R. 2021. IngID: a framework for parsing and systematic reporting of ingredients used in commercially packaged foods. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 100. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2021.103920.
Li, Y., Bahadur, R., Ahuja, J.K., Pehrsson, P.R., Harnly, J.M. 2021. Macro-and micronutrients in raw plant foods: the similarities and implication for dietary diversity. Nature Food. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2021.103993.
Woodruff, R.C., Zhao, L., Ahuja, J.K., Gillespie, C., Goldman, J.D., Harris, D.M., Jackson, S., Moshfegh, A.J., Rhodes, D.G., Sebastian, R.S., Terry, A., Cogswell, M. 2020. Top Food Category Contributors to Sodium and Potassium Intake - United States, 2015-2016. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports. 69(32):1064-1069. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6932a3.
Fukagawa, N.K., Pehrsson, P.R., Mckillop, K.A., Phillips, K.M., Mcginty, R.C., Couture, G. 2021. Dietary fiber, starch, and sugars in bananas at different ripeness in the retail market. PLoS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253366.
