W.M. Rand
For a number of years, there has been a growing awareness of a number of problems with regard to food composition data [1]. These problems are summarized briefly as follows:
inaccuracies in food composition tables ranging from analytical problems to transcription errors;
missing data arising in part from the increasing difficulty of those responsible for nutrient data tables and banks to keep up with new foods being marketed, new and modified analytical methods being developed, and the increasing number of food components being regarded as potentially important;
duplication of effort as demonstrated by the fact that government and industrial laboratories often find themselves analyzing many of the same foods over and over again;
some standard tables, for example the INCAP table for Latin America, are now outof-date, as many foods and methods of analysis have changed thus invalidating the original entries, yet data are still being extracted from these tables to construct new tables;
with the increasing interest in nutrition and the availability of small inexpensive computers, a large number of special-purpose data banks have been developed which in general are neither compatible nor complementary.
In addition, it is often difficult to determine the source, accuracy, or even the exact definition of specific entries in a given data table. As food composition tables and nutrient data banks proliferate, even finding and gaining access to suitable data for a specific application is becoming increasingly difficult. These problems have become increasingly apparent to diverse groups of users, including governments interested in the entire question of the nutritional status of their populations; industry involved in the development of new products and reformulations of old products, the labelling of the content of their products, and the growth of international trade; professional nutritionists concerned with a broad spectrum of activities ranging from metabolic research to individual and mass feeding, and the international nutrition community concerned with nutrition problems which cross-national boundaries, for example international food aid.
Early in 1983 a meeting was organized to assess the status and problems of food composition data [1]. This was the International Network of Food Data Systems (Infoods) Meeting held in Bellagio, Italy, January 30 to February 5, 1983. The main theme of this meeting was that, while there is a great deal of work to be done in individual countries and regions, it is essential that there is international coordination of these activities. To this end the meeting recommended that an organization be formed, to be known as Infoods. The main objectives are to promote formally international participation and co-operation in the acquisition and interchange of data on the nutrient composition of foods, beverages, and their ingredients in forms appropriate to meet the needs of government agencies, nutrition scientists, health and agriculture professionals, policy makers and planners, food producers, processors and retailers, and consumers.
The meeting agreed that in order to achieve these objectives, Infoods would need to develop a network or linkage of data banks throughout the world and to develop standards and guidelines for the collection, storage, interchange, and use of data. It was agreed that a secretariat should be set up to coordinate these activities and that an international journal devoted to food composition studies should be published. It is hoped to include papers on analytical methods for nutrient and non-nutrient components of foods, the processing of these data and their application for various uses. A number of activities have already been initiated. The first task is to establish an international directory of food composition tables and data banks. Since Infoods is to develop a network of food data banks, the logical starting point is to survey existing data banks in order to determine their content and format, the facilities at which the data banks are kept, the degree of compatibility of data banks both in terms of content and form, from the point of view of linking them, and the completeness of the data banks in relation to the food actually available to the consumer. This information will not only form the basis of the Infoods network, but will provide basic information necessary for the other activities of Infoods. Five task forces are being set up, each in an area in which international co-ordination is considered to be essential. A task force on quality of food composition data headed by Dr. Southgate will develop criteria and guidelines for the quality of entries in food composition tables and data banks. It is proposed that criteria are developed for: methods and laboratory practices, modes of expression of data and conversion factors, calculation of data from analytical values, and criteria for accepting data from the literature. A task force will be set up to consider the development of criteria for the nomenclature to be used in nutrient data banks, i.e., the names to be given to foods and how foods are coded. The task force will review existing systems and methods of classification and description of foods and their components and will also evaluate these methods in terms of their suitability for international exchange of information. In addition, it will recommend priorities for establishing a universal and international standardized documentation language. Finally; recommendations will be made for a nomenclature structure which will be internationally acceptable and which will be flexible and responsive to modern computer technology.
A task force will be concerned with the design of information systems. As Infoods is ultimately conceived as a network linking users and nutrient data banks, a system for moving data about needs to be developed. The task force will examine how the needs of users can best be satisfied in the light of technological realities. More specifically, the task force will develop a model system for data flow and regulation and information services to be provided. They will discuss with existing data centres how they may be integrated into a global network and how their present structure and modes of operation would influence the network (to define the interfaces necessary). A plan of action will be designed including a prototype system. Various aspects of the system will be monitored during development and once operational, the system will be evaluated.
The content and form of the food composition tables and nutrient data banks will be studied by another task force with a view to developing an ‘ideal’ data file. Attention will be given to the items and components to be included, additional information required, and logical formats for data records and files for the storage transfer and distribution of food composition data. A final task force will study the needs of the users of food composition data. The numbers and types of users and how frequently they use such data will also be considered. In addition, attention will be given to what data are most frequently used, requested, or needed, and for what purposes. More generally, this task force will endeavour to determine what type of network would best serve both present and potential users.
Thus, in summary, Infoods is envisaged as a network of regional activities together with an organizational framework for various activities such as the expert task forces. A necessary adjunct to the activities of Infoods are regional committees. These are currently being identified and formed where necessary and will be asked to assist the Infoods secretariat in identifying and obtaining the available food data bases and other relevant information from the region, as well as assisting Infoods in identifying the special problems, needs, and resources of the regions and persons in the region for participation in the various Infoods activities. Moreover, they will provide input into the policy decisions of Infoods through representation on the policy committee and the participation of its members in the various Infoods activities.
It is essential that complete and accurate food composition data are readily available to those requiring such data. At present, such data are mainly available at the national level, and in some areas efforts are being made to collect data together, so that these will be available on a regional basis. Infoods has been established to provide a global structure for the entire range of activities involved in food composition data, from collection to usage. This, of course, can only be achieved by working together with regional groups such as Eurofoods.
Reference
