Criteria for Optimizing Food Composition Tables in Relation to Studies of Habitual Food Intakes*

*Oral presented in 4th International Food Data Conference. Bratislava, August, 42-26, 2001.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to increase the accuracy, reliability, and precision of food composition data and, in consequence, better approximate nutrient intake estimations and recommendations. To do this it is necessary to specify and taken into acount factors that play an important role in the variation of composition in order to avoid excessively broad dispersions and irregularities in data distributions. This implies the presentation of representative and, as consequence, extrapolable data, with nutritionally grounded confidence intervals. This study suggests a methodology that better approaches the accuracy, reliability, and precision of food composition data.

*Oral presented in 4th International Food Data Conference. Bratislava, August, 42-26, 2001.

Keywords:

• representative samples
• nutrients
• non-nutrients
• requirements
• DRIs

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We want to express our sincere thanks to Mrs Elena Primo for her kind help in the documentation of the work.

Notes

*Oral presented in 4th International Food Data Conference. Bratislava, August, 42-26, 2001.