Methodology and User Guide for the Food Intakes Converted to Retail Commodities Databases: CSFII 1994-1996 and 1998; NHANES 1999-2000; WWEIA, NHANES 2001-2002

Authors: Bowman, Shanthy; Martin, Carrie; Friday, James; Moshfegh, Alanna; LIN, BIING-HWAN - Economic Research Serivce (ERS, USDA); WELLS, HODDAN - Economic Research Serivce (ERS, USDA)

Submitted to: Worldwide Web Site: Food Surveys Research Group
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/18/2011
Publication Date: 8/12/2011
Citation: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. 2011. Methodology and User Guide for the Food Intakes Converted to Retail Commodities Databases: CSFII 1994-1996 and 1998; NHANES 1999-2000; WWEIA, NHANES 2001-2002. Available: www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=21994.

Interpretive Summary: Food Intakes Converted to Retail Commodities Database (FICRCD) is jointly produced by USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Economic Research Service (ERS). FICRCD converts foods reported in the national dietary surveys 1994-2002 to respective amounts of 65 food commodities. The commodity types in FICRCD include: all forms of milk as fluid milk; yogurt; cheese; butter; oils; shortening; fruits and vegetables as raw fruits or vegetables with refuse (e.g., peel, skin, core, seeds, pit, crown); all grain products except rice as respective flours; rice, legumes, and nuts as dry, uncooked commodities; meat, fish, and poultry as uncooked, boneless commodities; and all types of caloric sweeteners combined into a single sweetener commodity. The methodology for FICRCD describes the process of disaggregation of survey foods, the assignment of disaggregated foods to appropriate commodity types, and the application of conversion factors to convert foods reported in the survey to respective amounts of each of the 65 food commodities. At present, there are no national databases that convert foods consumed to food commodities. FICRCD fills this gap; by doing so, it provides opportunities for several unique applications, such as estimating food commodities consumed by Americans from different socio-economic and demographic backgrounds, the distribution of commodities among foods eaten by Americans, and in some instances, the cost of foods. FICRCD has the potential to link nutrition, agriculture, and economics, and thus is useful to economists, food growers, food producers, nutrition educators, policymakers, and others.

Technical Abstract: The purpose for developing the Food Intakes Converted to Retail Commodities Database (FICRCD) is to convert foods consumed in the national dietary surveys, 1994-2002, to respective amounts of retail-level food commodities. Food commodities are defined as those available for purchase in retail stores, supermarkets, or other retail food outlets. There are 8 major commodity categories in FICRCD: dairy products; fats and oils; fruits; grains; meat, poultry, fish and eggs; nuts; caloric sweeteners; and vegetables, dry beans and peas (legumes). Each commodity category has several components totaling 65 food commodities. Foods within each commodity are converted to a single commodity type even if the food is available in different forms at the retail stores; i.e., canned, frozen, or dried carrots are converted to raw carrots commodity. Similarly, non-fat dry milk is converted to fluid skim milk. The methodology that accompanies FICRCD describes the process of disaggregation of foods, their assignments to appropriate commodities, and the application of conversion factors to convert foods to respective amounts of commodities. The disaggregation of foods is based on the food recipes in the CSFII 1994-1998 technical files and the Food and Nutrition Database for Dietary Studies version 1 as appropriate to the surveys. A list of foods included in each commodity and the conversion factors used to create FICRCD are also included. This methodology and user guide applies to the following surveys as it is based on the formulations or recipes used in the surveys: 1994-1996 and 1998 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals; National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2000; and What We Eat In America, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2002.