The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Food and Nutrition Division provides expertise to support countries in collecting, harmonizing, and disseminating high quality information on diet and nutrition. Within this scope, we improve assessment tools including dietary diversity indicators such as the Minimum Dietary Diversity indicator for Women (MDD-W); develop countries’ capacities to collect data; and work to develop the FAO/WHO Global Individual Food consumption data Tool (FAO/WHO GIFT), a global web-based platform providing free access to country-specific nutrition information based on individual quantitative food consumption data. We provide knowledge of human energy and nutrient requirements, essential for the complete assessment of food supplies and nutritional needs and to enable governments to monitor nutrition programmes and plan development activities. Furthermore, FAO coordinates the International Network of Food Data Systems (INFOODS), a worldwide network of food composition experts aiming to improve the quality, availability, reliability and use of food composition data.
Learn more about our work and visit our sections on assessment tools, capacity development, food consumption, nutrition requirements and food composition.
NEWS, EVENTS AND VIDEOS
- Event: 14th International Food Data Conference, 1-3 September 2025. Agenda and book of abstracts can be accessed here. Webcast recordings: day 1, day 2, and day 3. A news article on the Conference is available here.
- Event: Rome Nutrition Week 2025: The Importance of Food Composition Data to Enhance Nutrition. Recording available here.
- Video: How to share food consumption survey data through FAO/WHO GIFT. Go to the GIFT platform
NEW PUBLICATIONS
- E-learning course on Aquatic foods for nutrition. Lesson 3: Sources and uses of food composition data
- Chapter 4a: Food Composition, in 3rd edition of Principles of Nutritional Assessment, edited by Rosalind S. Gibson. June 2025.






