Comparison of nutrients in the food composition tables available in the nine European countries participating in EPIC

Food composition tables were studied from nine European countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC): Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Great Britain, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. They were compared from the point view of availability, definition, analytical methods, and mode of expression of the nutrients of interest for EPIC, and it was seen that most of the nutrients in the tables are analysed and expressed in a compatible way. For some nutrients, however, common methods and definitions (folate, dietary fibre), or modes of expression (energy, protein, carbohydrates, carotenes, vitamin A and E) have not yet been agreed upon, so values are not comparable. For vitamin C a wide range of values are found due to the high natural variation in foods. For compiled tables, an additional problem is the use of several sources which may mean that the nutritional values are not comparable within the same table; and these values cannot be converted if the source is not stated. In addition, some tables were compiled using food composition values produced over 20 years ago with outdated analytical methods. In view of the inconsistent values for some nutrients and due to the large amount of foods reported within EPIC, it was concluded that standardised food composition tables have to be developed for the nine European countries involved in EPIC in order to provide comparable nutrient intake data.

[1]  A. C. Dean.  Method for the estimation of available carbohydrate in foods , 1978 .

[2]  H. P. Lee,et al.  Dietary fiber and starch in some Southeast Asian fruits , 1987 .

[3]  Ritva R. Butrum,et al.  Food descriptions using taxonomy and the ‘Langual’ system , 1991 .

[4]  J. Durnin,et al.  Calorie conversion factors. An experimental reassessment of the factors used in the calculation of the energy value of human diets , 1970, British Journal of Nutrition.

[5]  D. Southgate.  Determination of food carbohydrates , 1976 .

[6]  D. Southgate,et al.  Determination of carbohydrates in foods. II. Unavailable carbohydrates. , 1969, Journal of the science of food and agriculture.

[7]  D. Southgate,et al.  The analysis of dietary fibre--the choices for the analyst. , 1978, Journal of the science of food and agriculture.

[8]  W. J. Dyer,et al.  A rapid method of total lipid extraction and purification. , 1959, Canadian journal of biochemistry and physiology.

[9]  A. Paul,et al.  Free sugars in foods. , 1978, Journal of human nutrition.

[10]  S. Bingham,et al.  Dietary fibre (non‐starch polysaccharides) in fruit, vegetables and nuts , 1988 .

[11]  F. H. Carr,et al.  Colour Reactions Attributed to Vitamin A. , 1926, The Biochemical journal.

[12]  G. Block,et al.  Ascorbic acid and dehydroascorbic acid content of foods-as-eaten , 1990 .

[13]  H. Englyst,et al.  Improved method for measurement of dietary fiber as non-starch polysaccharides in plant foods. , 1988, Journal - Association of Official Analytical Chemists.

[14]  N. Asp,et al.  Determination of total dietary fiber in foods and food products: collaborative study. , 1985, Journal - Association of Official Analytical Chemists.

[15]  B. A. Anderson,et al.  Lipids in foods: Problems and procedures in collating data , 1975 .

[16]  A. C. Dean,et al.  The determination of vitamin E in food by colorimetry and gas-liquid chromatography. , 1973, The Analyst.

[17]  F. Granado,et al.  Carotenoid composition in raw and cooked Spanish vegetables , 1992 .

[18]  K. Scott,et al.  Development and evaluation of an HPLC method for the analysis of carotenoids in foods, and the measurement of the carotenoid content of vegetables and fruits commonly consumed in the UK , 1995 .

[19]  H Trowell,et al.  Ischemic heart disease and dietary fiber. , 1972, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[20]  H. Englyst,et al.  Determination of the non-starch polysaccharides in plant foods by gas-liquid chromatography of constituent sugars as alditol acetates. , 1982, The Analyst.

[21]  N Slimani,et al.  Structure of the standardized computerized 24-h diet recall interview used as reference method in the 22 centers participating in the EPIC project. European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. , 1999, Computer methods and programs in biomedicine.

[22]  D. Phillips,et al.  The threshold growth response of Lactobacillus casei to 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolic acid: implications for folate assays , 1985, British Journal of Nutrition.

[23]  R. Mongeau,et al.  A comparison of three methods for analyzing dietary fiber in 38 foods , 1989 .

[24]  D. Phillips,et al.  Studies on the response of Lactobacillus casei to folate vitamin in foods , 1983, British Journal of Nutrition.

[25]  F. Granado,et al.  Quantitation of provitamin-A and non-provitamin-A carotenoids in the fruits most commonly consumed in Spain , 1993 .

[26]  S. Bingham,et al.  The dietary assessment of individual: methods, accuracy, new techniques and recommendations , 1987 .

[27]  A. Paul,et al.  McCance and Widdowson's 'The composition of foods': dietary fibre in egg, meat and fish dishes. , 1979, Journal of human nutrition.

[28]  P. Voogt,et al.  The analysis of nutrients in foods. , 1978 .

[29]  R. Saracci,et al.  Biological markers of diet. , 1987, Cancer surveys.

[30]  J. Folch,et al.  A simple method for the isolation and purification of total lipides from animal tissues. , 1957, The Journal of biological chemistry.

[31]  L. Sivell,et al.  Dietary fibre fractions in cereal and cereal‐containing products in Britain , 1985 .

[32]  E. Riboli,et al.  Colorectal cancer and intake of dietary fibre. A summary of the epidemiological evidence. , 1995, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

[33]  D. A. T. Southgate,et al.  Food Composition Data: Production, Management and Use , 1992 .

[34]  M. Gassull,et al.  DIETARY FIBRE REDEFINED , 1976, The Lancet.

[35]  J W Anderson,et al.  Dietary fiber content of selected foods. , 1988, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[36]  D. Southgate,et al.  Dietary Fibre Analysis , 1992 .

[37]  R. S. Kirk,et al.  Pearson's chemical analysis of foods , 1981 .

[38]  Elio Riboli,et al.  The EPIC Project: Rationale and study design , 1997 .