AUSTRALIAN FOOD AND NUTRIENT DATABASE ( AUSNUT 1999 )

Explanatory Notes

INTRODUCTION

The new AUSNUT Database is a suite of 7 Files containing a wealth of food and nutrition-related information for over 4500 foods, including about 1300 recipe foods. Some of these data have not been previously available for Australian foods. For the first time users will be able to access separate Files comprising data on food names and brand name descriptions, recipes, food measures and nutrient composition appropriate to Australian foods.

All of these Files are based on the technical support files used in the 1995 National Nutrition Survey (NNS) food intake coding system, known as ANSURS. The NNS files were modified for Australian conditions in 1996 from US Codebook files used in the United States Department of Agriculture's Continuing Survey of Food Intakes of Individuals 1994-96. Some Codebook files such as the Food File were significantly modified for the NNS, whereas others like the Food Measures Files underwent little change.

In preparing AUSNUT the Australia New Zealand Food Authority (the Authority) reviewed the content of the NNS technical support files and corrected or updated some aspects. The Nutrient File is particularly improved by the inclusion of a second estimate of energy content that accounts for the contribution from dietary fibre. Furthermore, the vitamin and mineral fortification of some key foods was updated to 1999 levels.

Although AUSNUT's Nutrient File is significantly revised and expanded compared with NUTTAB95¹, this File should be considered as a separate entity rather than as an update to or replacement for NUTTAB95. This is because the Nutrient File values are a mixture of analytical, calculated and imputed data, rather than a compilation of mostly analytical data, as is the case for NUTTAB95. Also, the range of foods and food naming conventions are especially designed for dietary intake estimation, which for some food groups such as the Meat Group, may not be as detailed as in NUTTAB95.

AUSNUT DATABASE FILES

Seven Files are supplied in the AUSNUT Database that provide data on food names and brand name descriptions, nutrient composition, food measures, recipes, recipe retention factors and nutrient definitions. These Files are described in detail below and their technical specifications are given in Appendix 1.

The AUSNUT foods and their nutrient composition are representative of the foods available on the market in 1995. Foods available after 1995 and changes to product formulations and/or nutrient composition that occurred since that time are not included in this Database.

Field names discussed in the body of this documentation are shown in small capitals.

1. Food File

The Food File contains details of FOOD ID, SURVEY ID, LONG NAME, SHORT NAME, FOOD DESCRIPTION and DERIVATION CODE.

Identification Codes

Each food in AUSNUT is assigned an 8-character alphanumeric FOOD ID based on the identification system used in the Composition of Foods, Australia² series and associated data publications such as NUTTAB95. The FOOD ID consists of a 4-character food group code followed by a 4-digit number. The food grouping system is given in Appendix 2.

Foods are also identified by the 8-digit SURVEY ID used in the 1995 NNS, with the exception of 4 new kangaroo and quail records that were subsequently added to the database (see page 7). This SURVEY ID also incorporates a food grouping system in its first 4 characters, however this system differs from that given within FOOD ID. A full description of the NNS food grouping system is outlined in the National Nutrition Survey User's Guide³.

Food Names

A LONG NAME and abbreviated SHORT NAME are given for each food. Abbreviations used in SHORT NAME can be ascertained from the description given in LONG NAME. Foods are arranged alphabetically within each food group. This is consistent in the Nutrient File, Food Measure File, and Recipe File.

Throughout the AUSNUT Database foods are identified by a generic name rather than a proprietary name. This naming system was required for the NNS Files and is retained for AUSNUT except for a few food names that are updated or altered to enhance comprehension and provide greater clarity. In some instances changes in fortification practices, including the addition of new vitamins or minerals between 1995 and 1999, necessitated food names to be changed. Also, for some foods identified as 'Not further specified ' more detail is included to distinguish between raw and cooked foods and to provide additional information about the food product. Further information to assist interpretation of foods described as 'Not specified as to...' and 'Not further specified' is given in method 9 of ' Development of the NNS Nutrient File ' on page 15.

Some users may find it difficult to identify an appropriate food by generic name alone. FOOD DESCRIPTION (below) is provided to aid identification and selection of appropriate foods.

Food Description

FOOD DESCRIPTION contains the specific brand or product name for products that are represented by a generically described food. The brand or product names are examples of specific foods that have comparable nutrient values, rather than being the definitive list. It should not be interpreted that the nutrient profile is representative of only those brand or product name(s) included in FOOD DESCRIPTION.

Brand or product names are provided to assist users in searching for or identifying the appropriate generically named food. This feature is anticipated to be particularly useful for foods described according to aspects of physical or nutrient composition. For example, to correctly select the LONG NAME ' Muesli, Untoasted, with total sugars less than 20%, fortified ' , users are required to know the sugar content and fortification status of the product. If this information is unknown, knowledge of brand or product names such as, ' Sanitarium ' , ' Morning Sun ' and ' Uncle Tobys ' can be used to identify the appropriate untoasted muesli.

In FOOD DESCRIPTION the field length allows for 360 alphanumeric characters. If the number of brand names in FOOD DESCRIPTION exceeds the field length, then the last listed food name may be truncated.

Information in FOOD DESCRIPTION was originally compiled for the NNS food coding system. The Authority contacted as many companies as possible to seek permission to retain the names of specific products within the Food File. Most companies were pleased to oblige, however in the few cases where permission was not provided individual product names were deleted.

Derivation Code

DERIVATION CODE enables users to identify the 1300 recipe foods. Those foods with a derivation code of ' 3 ' are derived from an associated recipe located in the Recipe File. With the exception of the four new kangaroo and quail records, which have a derivation code of ' 0 ' , all other non-recipe foods have a derivation code of ' 4 ' .

2. Nutrient Files

Two file formats, Nutrient.txt, and an alternate format Nutmatrx.txt, are given for the nutrient composition data. Nutrient.txt presents a relational table suitable for import into database management software, and Nutmatrx.txt presents a matrix table suitable for import into spreadsheet applications. In Nutrient.txt the nutrients per food are sorted alphabetically whereas the nutrients in Nutmatrx.txt are arranged according to nutrient category in a similar fashion to NUTTAB95.

In either version foods are arranged alphabetically within relevant food group.

Nutrients

Nutrient values per 100 g edible portion are reported in the Nutrient File for 28 components comprising 12 proximate constituents, 10 vitamin components including total folate and 6 minerals excluding sodium. A description of all nutrients is given in the Nutrient Definition File. The consistent use of the 100 gram reference quantity for all foods including fluids differs from that used in previous versions of the Australian nutrition composition references where data for many fluids are expressed per 100 mL.

Energy

Two energy values, ENERGY and ENERGYDF, are given for each food in the Nutrient File.

ENERGY is calculated by the method used in current Australian nutrient composition publications from amounts of protein, fat, total sugars, starch and alcohol, together with amounts of sugar alcohols, organic acids, glycogen, available oligosaccharides and maltodextrins where known. No account is taken of a possible energy contribution from dietary fibre.

ENERGY (kJ)= (g protein*17)+(g total fat*37)+(g total sugars*16)+(g starch*17) +(g alcohol*29)
+(g sugar alcohol*16)+(g acetic acid*15)+(g citric acid*10)+(g lactic acid*15)+(g malic acid*10)
+(g quinic acid*10)+(g available oligosaccharides*17)+(g maltodextrins*17).

The FAO/ WHO Report on Carbohydrates in Human Nutrition⁴ shows that in mixed diets the ' average ' energy value for unavailable carbohydrates is 8 kJ/g. To account for these findings and provide consistency with the proposed introduction of a dietary fibre energy factor for nutrition labelling, a second estimate of energy value, ENERGYDF, is derived such that:

ENERGYDF (kJ)= (g protein*17)+(g total fat*37)+(g total sugars*16)+(g starch*17)+(g dietary fibre*8)
+(g alcohol*29)+(g sugar alcohol*16)+(g acetic acid*15)+(g citric acid*10)+(g lactic acid*15)
+(g malic acid*10)+(g quinic acid*10)+(g available oligosaccharides*17)+(g maltodextrins*17).

This is the first time these two estimates of energy value have been published in an Australian food composition reference. The impact on the diet of including the energy contribution from dietary fibre is to increase estimates of total energy intake by 185 kJ, assuming a mean adult dietary fibre intake of 23.1 g/day ⁵ .

Meat records

New Australian analytical data were included for beef and New Zealand data included for chicken.

New Approach to Derivation of Nutrient Values for Trimmed Meat

NNS meat descriptions were not required to be as detailed as the variety of individual meat cuts listed in NUTTAB95. Meat descriptions were developed by grouping individual meat cuts of similar carcass location and, where appropriate, type of cooking method. Nutrient data for these meat descriptions were derived by weighting the data for the individual cuts according to carcass proportion.

Trimming

Two levels of separable fat trim (50% and 75%) are given for most meat cuts in NUTTAB95 . These are derived from a mathematical adjustment of the physical composition of untrimmed retail cuts containing more than 6% separable fat. This approach is uniformly applied irrespectiveoftheamountofseparablefat(>6%) present in untrimmed cuts.

The AUSNUT Database contains only one fat-trimmed version of each type of meat description. Rather than adopting the same approach to trimming as in NUTTAB95, a new approach was devised in which the proportion of trimming was determined according to the relative proportions of lean and separable fat in the untrimmed cut such that:

% Separable Fat	Selected % Trim
0-4	nil
5-10	50
11-20	75
>20	90

This approach assumes that consumers would trim to approximately the same small residual amount of separable fat irrespective of the amount originally present.

New Nutrient Data for Kangaroo and Quail

New data from the Authority' s commissioned nutrient analytical program, conducted in collaboration with kangaroo and quail producers are provided for 7 raw and cooked cuts of kangaroo and quail.

Folate Values

Official permission was obtained to use up to 4000 total folate values from the 5th edition of McCance and Widdowson' s The Composition of Foods and its supplements⁶.

For foods that correlated directly with their British counterpart, the folate value was adjusted on a dry matter basis. However, if the moisture content differed significantly or the food contained different ingredients, the folate value was not dry matter adjusted.

Fortification Changes

The folate and zinc values of foods fortified with these nutrients after 1996, such as breakfast cereals, are updated according to label information supplied by companies in response to the Authority' s request.

The term ' ..not specified as to [nutrient] fortified ' is used in SHORT NAME when only a subset of the foods represented by the generic name is fortified with a particular nutrient. For instance, the cereal ' Wheat Bran, Processed Bran Cereal ' is derived from a combination of two companies' folate-unfortified bran cereals. Because one of the cereals was subsequently fortified with folate, the AUSNUT folate value was revised by weighting the two products' folate values according to market share information and renaming the cereal 'Wheat Bran, Processed Bran Cereal, not specified as to folate fortified ' .

Salt

Although sodium values are not included in the Nutrient File, a nutrient profile is given for salt. Salt is included as a food ingredient in many recipes and contains small amounts of minerals other than sodium and chloride. Salt contains 38,758 mg sodium and 59,750 mg chloride per 100 g.

Trace Values

All Australian values previously reported as ' trace ' are replaced with numerical values derived as the midpoint between the Limit of Reporting and the Limit of Detection determined by the analytical laboratories. The following values are assigned for trace amounts:

Nutrient	Unit per 100 g	Limit of Reporting	Limit of Detection	Trace value assigned
Moisture	g	0.5	0.1	0.3
Total Protein	g	0.1	0.01	0.06
Fat	g	0.3	0.1	0.2
Cholesterol	mg	1	0.2	0.6
Sugars	g	0.1	0.1	0.1
Starch	g	0.5	0.5	0.5
Dietary Fibre	g	0.5	0.5	0.5
Potassium	mg	1	0.1	0.6
Calcium	mg	1	0.1	0.6
Iron	mg	0.1	0.01	0.06
Magnesium	mg	1	0.1	0.6
Zinc	mg	0.1	0.01	0.06
Phosphorus	mg	1	0.1	0.6
Retinol	m g	5	1	3
ß-carotene eq.	m g	5	1	3
Thiamin	mg	0.05	0.02	0.04
Riboflavin	mg	0.05	0.02	0.04
Niacin	mg	0.2	0.1	0.2
Vitamin C	mg	1	0.5	0.8

This level of detail is not available for folate values because these values were mainly derived from British sources.

Data Modifications to NNS Nutrient File

After extensive review of the NNS Nutrient File, a small number of individual nutrient values were considered sufficiently inaccurate to require modification. In addition, the nutrient values for 25 recipe foods with imitation cream were updated and recalculated. Details of the specific changes are available from the Authority on request.

Beta-carotene

Lean and separable fat portions of beef cuts are assigned non-zero values for beta-carotene . In previous publications beta-carotene values were presented as zero for both lean and separable fat.

3. Food Measure File

The Food Measure File contains data for quantity, measure and description, and gram weight of more than 20 000 food measures. For example, 08A10155, 18111371 ' Beef Steak, Sirloin, Fried, Fat Trimmed ' has the following associated measures:

Qty	Measure	Description	Gram weight
1	Small steak	(bone removed)	110
1	Medium steak	(bone removed)	127
1	Large steak	(bone removed)	144
1	cup	cooked, diced	148
1	g	boneless, cooked (yield after bone removed)	0.9
1	g	with bone, cooked (yield after bone and fat removed)	0.73
1	g	boneless, raw (yield after cooking, fat removed)	0.7
1	g	with bone, raw, (yield after cooking, bone and fat removed)	0.53
1	cm cubed	boneless	1.2
1	Serving not specified		127

Foods are arranged alphabetically within each food group, and the number of measures per food ranges from 1 to 122. Although all measures, including for beverages and liquid foods, are expressed as gram weights, equivalent volumetric measures for beverages and some liquids are included in DESCRIPTION .

The vast majority of data in this File comes from the original US Codebook files adjusted to metric measures, for example, US cup to metric cup. Less than 1% of the measures are taken from Composition of Foods, Australia and the remainder were developed during the coding of the NNS food intakes. Unfortunately, the basis for these latter measures is undocumented.

The Authority reviewed the data in the NNS file, particularly for appropriate relativity within and between similar foods, and as a result, adjusted 2% of measure descriptions and gram weights. It was not possible however to verify the accuracy and representativeness of all the food measures without imposing considerable delay in AUSNUT's public release. Users therefore should treat these data as a guide only.

Users are also advised that the series of gram weights for a related group of untrimmed and trimmed meat cuts reflects original American proportions of lean and separable fat. However, the nutrient composition for the same cuts in the Nutrient File was derived according to Australian physical composition data and the Authority' s new approach to estimating trimming losses (see Nutrient File above).

The range of measures is specifically developed to cater for the variety of ways in which survey respondents report the amounts of foods they consume. Some unit measures require extrapolation from a respondent' s reported food intake to yield the appropriate amount of food as eaten.

Measure descriptions include:

detailed descriptions including dimensions;
general descriptions such as small/medium/large;
unit density to permit a gram weight to be calculated from a known shape and dimensions;
allowance for a gram weight to be derived for a cooked edible portion when reported as a raw weight with or without inedible portion;
allowance for a gram weight to be derived for a cooked edible portion when reported as a volumetric measure of raw food, with or without inedible portion;
serving not specified; and
guideline amounts for foods used in combination with othe

NUTTAB: What's in your food?

Food Standards Australia New Zealand