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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 #307116
Title: The USDA Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies, 2011-2012

Author
item Martin, Carrie
item Montville, Janice
item Steinfeldt, Lois
item Omolewa-Tomobi, Grace
item Heendeniya, Kaushalya
item Adler, Meghan
item Moshfegh, Alanna

Submitted to: Worldwide Web Site: Food Surveys Research Group
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/30/2014
Publication Date: 10/28/2014
Citation: Martin, C.L., Montville, J.B., Steinfeldt, L.C., Omolewa Tomobi, G., Heendeniya, K.Y., Adler, M.E., Moshfegh, A.J. 2014. The USDA Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies, 2011-2012. Worldwide Web Site: Food Surveys Research Group. Available: www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=12089.

Interpretive Summary: The USDA Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS) is an extensive database of foods and beverages as consumed in the U.S. It is used to code foods/beverages and portion sizes and to calculate nutrients for the large-scale federal food consumption survey, What We Eat in America (WWIEA), the dietary intake component of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). FNDDS contains information for more than 7,600 foods and beverages, including many brand name products. Values for food energy and 64 other nutrients are included for each item, as well as weights for common portions of the item. Many of these values are derived from the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 26 (SR26). The U.S. food supply is constantly changing, with thousands of new products and packages introduced each year. FNDDS is regularly updated to reflect the current state of the U.S. food market and to support processing of WWEIA. New versions of FNDDS are released every two years to accompany the release of the NHANES dietary intake data. This update (version 2011-2012) of FNDDS was used to process dietary intakes from WWEIA, NHANES 2011-2012. Extensive documentation, valuable to both new and previous users, accompanies the database. This includes a bulleted list and table describing major changes to the database since the previous version (5). The database is released in three formats: as a Microsoft Access® database, as a SAS® dataset, and as ASCII text files. The database can be downloaded on-line, thus putting a valuable dietary research tool at the fingertips of the users. The database may be used in conjunction with research utilizing dietary data from WWEIA, NHANES 2011-2012, or it may be used in other dietary studies. The availability and accessibility of the FNDDS is beneficial to public policy administrators and other government groups, to dietitians and the food industry, as well as to scientists conducting research that involves collecting food intake data.

Technical Abstract: The USDA Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS) 2011-2012 is used to code foods/beverages and portion sizes and to calculate nutrients for national food surveys. This version of the FNDDS was used to process dietary intakes from What We Eat in America (WWIEA), the dietary intake component of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2012. The database includes descriptions for more than 7,600 foods/beverages; over 35,000 weights for common portions; and food energy and 64 nutrient/food components for each of these foods/beverages. Nutrient values for FNDDS foods/beverages are based upon values in the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 26 (SR26) and are documented in the FNDDS-SR Links file. The database is available for downloading from the FSRG Web site in three formats: as a Microsoft Access® database, as a SAS® dataset, and as ASCII text files. The Web site www.ars.usda.gov/ba/bhnrc/fsrg includes detailed downloading instructions and extensive documentation describing the database. The documentation is also included as an integral part of the database download package.