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Spanish food composition database: A challenge for a consensus
Food Chemistry 113 (2009) 789–794
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Food Chemistry journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem
Spanish food composition database: A challenge for a consensus G. Ros a,*, E. Martínez de Victoria b, A. Farran c,1 a b c
Nutrición y Bromatología, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Murcia, 30071 Murcia, Spain Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain CESNID (Centre for Superior Studies in Nutrition and Dietetics), Spain
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Received 11 December 2007 Received in revised form 14 July 2008 Accepted 21 July 2008
Keywords: Food composition Food database EuroFIR Spanish network RedBEDCA
a b s t r a c t Food composition tables have become important tools to estimate and monitor the nutritional composition of foods next to chemical analysis. However, as analytical methods, calculation methods and obtained results differ significantly within various sources of food composition information. Because calculation methods and obtained results differ significantly within various sources of food composition information, it is indeed a challenge to build, harmonise and compile a food composition database from scattered resources and hard copy tables. This situation has been challenged and addressed in Spain with the support of EuroFIR and governmental bodies (Spanish Food Safety and Nutrition Authority, AESAN), and the Spanish Food Composition Database Network (RedBDECA) has been set up. The proposed aims of the initiative are: to identify and evaluate the main sources of food composition data in Spain; to promote communication within national groups and with EuroFIR; to design and develop a web page for the dissemination of its activities; and to create a consortium to ensure the sustainability of the Spanish Food Composition Database. Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. History of the food composition tables in Spain 1.1. The international scenario The first published food composition data in a tabulated form was in Germany by Josep König in 1879–1880 (König, 1879, 1880), followed by Atwater and Woods (Atwater & Woods, 1896) in the USA. The impact of Atwater’s work on food composition is well known not only for the larger number of food items (about 2600) with a wide range of raw food composition (from meat, cereals, fruit and vegetable food groups), but also for his inclusion of processed foods, such as chocolate and sausages, for the first time in the history of food composition food tables. Values were presented for the ‘fuel value’, water, protein, carbohydrate (calculated ‘by difference’), ash and ‘refuse’ content of foods (Church, 2006). Atwater’s work also was on food intake, human health and economic well-being, and played a pivotal role in the USA (Darby, 1994) as well as in all countries for many years. To find the first set of international food composition tables we have to wait until 1949, when the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) published the ‘Food Composition Tables for International Use’ (Chatfield, 1949). Although the main objective of these international food composition tables was to help assess world food availability, it * Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 646425959; fax: +34 968364147. E-mail address: [email protected] (G. Ros). 1 Present Address: University of Barcelona, Spain. 0308-8146/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2008.07.087
was also recognised that national food composition tables were more accurate for this purpose. However, such tables did not exist for most countries at the time. For that reason, the FAO expanded its work in the 1960s and 1970s to produce regional food composition tables for Asia, Africa and Latin America. 1.2. The Spanish situation In Spain, very slight attention was paid to food composition tables prior to the XX century and published references about them cannot be found. Several efforts were made during the first half of the century, mainly by academia, to study the chemical composition of Spanish foods (Table 1). However, it cannot be considered as ‘official food data’ for food composition tables like in some of the earlier European ‘official’ food composition tables, including those published in The Netherlands (van Eekelen, Janssen, & Straub, 1941) and Italy (Istituto della Nutrizione, 1946). The reason why they did not exist in Spain was not relevant, maybe due to the fact that no official body was responsible for the generation of an official food composition table. Following these patterns, academia (mainly the Universities) took a very active role and several food composition tables were generated in the second half of the century, mainly in the 80s and 90s (Table 1). This occurrence was linked in time to two international initiatives: the INFOODS (International Network of Food Data Systems) and DAFNE (DAta Food NEtworking). INFOODS was established in 1984 on the basis of the recommendations of
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Table 1 Spanish food composition tables published to date Authors
Spanish title/editorial
English title (translated)
Year of edition/ number or reeditions
Torres Salas, I.
Contribución al estudio de la composición química de los alimentos españoles./Santander. Ed. Talleres Resura Tesis. UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID
Contribution to the study of the chemical composition of Spanish foods
1932
Vázquez Sánchez, J.
Sobre la composición química de los alimentos españoles./Madrid. Gaceta Médica Española Tesis. UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID
On the chemical composition of Spanish foods
1932
Comenge, M.
Principios bioquímicos de dietética normal y tablas de composición de los alimentos españoles./Madrid: A.G.I.
Biochemical principles for normal dietetics and composition tables for Spanish foods
1946
Alonso Samaniego, J.M.
Factores dietéticos y tablas de composición de alimentos /Madrid: Alter Departamento de Investigación
Dietetic factors and food composition tables
1951
Casares Lopez, R., García Olmedo, R., Valls Pallés, C.
Tratado de bromatología/ Madrid, Universidad Complutense With food composition tables compiled using data from FAO, the National Food Science School and the ARMY. First edition was in 1942
Food science treaty
1978/5°
Marcos, A., Fernández Salguero, J., Esteban, A., León, F., Alcalá, M., Beltrán de Heredia, F.H.
Quesos españoles. Tablas de composición, valour nutritivo y estabilidad./ Córdoba: Departamento de Tecnología de los Alimentos – Universidad de Córdoba
Spanish cheeses. Food composition tables, nutritive value and stability
1985
Vivanco, F., Palacios, J.M.
Tabla de composición de alimentos españoles./Dirección General de Salud Pública – Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo
Food composition tables of Spanish foods
1985
Casamitjana, N.
Taula de composició d’aliments per a ús clínic./Fundació Sardà Farriol
Food composition tables for clinical use
1986
Jiménez Cruz, A., Cervera Ral, P.
Tabla de composición de alimentos/Barcelona: Wander SAE New editions have been published sponsorized by Wander, Sandoz, and lately Novartis
Food composition tables
1988
Mataix Verdú, J., Mañas Almendros, M., Llopis González, J., Martinez de Victoria, E.
Tabla de composición de alimentos españoles./Granada: Universidad de Granada
Food composition tables of Spanish foods
1993/4 (2003)
Moreiras Varela, O., Carbajal, A., Cabrera, L.
Tablas de composición de alimentos./ Madrid, Instituto de Nutrición (CSIC) New editions have been published with some changes in the list of authors. Last edition was in 2003
Food composition tables
1995
Requejo, A., Ortega, R.M., Carvajales, P y col.
Tablas de composición de alimentos españoles./Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo. Secretaría General Técnica. Centro de Publicaciones The first known temptative to produce a FCT only with the direct method (analyzing all the foods). The list of foods have been enlarged in 1999, but it does not exceed one hundred foods
Food composition tables of Spanish foods
1995
Martín Peña, G.
Tabla de composición de alimentos (versión 2.1)/Madrid: Nutricia
Food composition tables (version 2.1)
1997
Bello Gutiérrez, J., Candela Delgado, M., Astiasarán Anchía, I.
Tablas de composición para platos cocinados. /Madrid: Díaz de Santos
Tables of composition for cooked plates
1998
Farran, A., Zamora, R., Cervera, P.
Tablas de composición de los alimentos del CESNID – Taules de composició dels alimentos del CESNID /Edicions UB – McGraw-Hill Interamericana
CESNID food composition tables
2003
Ortega, R.M., López-Sobaler, A.M., Requejo, A.M., Andrés, P.
La composición de los alimentos. Herramienta básica para la valoración nutricional./ Ed. Complutense. Madrid
The composition of foods. A basic tool for nutritional assessment
2004
Those used more for dissemination purposes or translations of foreign tables are not included.
an international group convened under the auspices of the United Nations University (UNU). Its goal was to stimulate and coordinate efforts to improve the quality and availability of food analysis data worldwide and to ensure that anyone, anywhere, would be able to obtain adequate and reliable food composition data. The DAFNE initiative was the joint effort of European countries to compare the food habits of their populations and monitor trends in food availability over time, through the creation of a non-static, regularlyupdated food databank. The overall aim was to develop a nutrition monitoring tool that could assist in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of nutritional policies across Europe. The first Spanish developments came years after tables were produced in other countries like the UK, where the Widdowson’s food composition tables were created in 1967, with different versions revised in 1974 and 1993. It was not until 1995 that an agree-
ment between the Ministry of Health and the University of Madrid (Complutense) produced officially ‘‘The Spanish Food Composition Tables,” which collected the 68 most frequently consumed foods in Spain (Mañas Almendros, Martínez de Victoria Muños, & Yago Torregrosa, 2005). Previous to the first official table, information on food composition was spread by scientific papers at the University and Research institutes, as well as in National Laboratories, mainly the Ministries of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health. Two main aspects should be underlined related to the first Spanish food composition table: (1) that all food composition data was generated in the same laboratory (Department of Human Nutrition II of the Universidad Complutense of Madrid, lead by Professors Requejo and Ortega), and (2) that the idea was that these food composition tables could be updated periodically and include new food items, complete with new analyses. However, the project was discontin-
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ued as projected in the beginning. Also, the analytical methods as well as quality criteria for food data composition generation changed during the years, reasons that made these food composition tables in need of a review. Other food composition tables were generated in the 90s and in 2000, and new versions published in the XXI century (Table 1). Spain also participated, through CESNID (Centro de Enseñanza Superior de Nutrición y Dietética/Higher Education Center for Nutrition and Dietetics), in a large network involving national compilers, nutritionists and experts on food chemistry and computer science. The ‘EPIC Nutrient DataBase’ (ENDB) (Slimani et al., 2007) was created. It was a consequence of the inconsistent values for some nutrients and due to the large amount of foods reported within EPIC (European countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition), where 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” (Deharveng, Charrondiere, Slimani, Southgate, & Riboli, 1999). 2. Initiatives for the coordination of food composition database in Spain: The Spanish food composition database network (RedBDECA) In Spain the use of different food composition tables has been an obstacle in making comparisons between various national studies as well as in participating in international multicentric evaluations (Charrondiere et al., 2002). The diversity of existing tables causes significant problems, especially when comparing results obtained from nutrition studies using different food composition tables, which differ in key aspects such as definition of nutrients, description of foods and methods of elaboration. Such differences may introduce considerable bias in the estimates of nutrient intakes (Benegas et al., 1994; Charrondiere et al., 2002). For the above-mentioned reason it was an important challenge to launch a consensual food composition database and to make it sustainable through time. 2.1. The key role of the EuroFIR and AESAN A key aspect in the challenge of the coordination of a unified food composition database was to identify the main national governmental agency to compile all efforts in this direction. In addition, a goal of the Spanish group in the EuroFIR was to generate a unique Spanish Food Composition Database and to address the lack of a reference for Spain. So, the three Spanish EuroFIR partners initiated meetings with Spanish research groups to begin to work on resolving this issue. It was also a long process since several meetings were needed to get a consensus. To condense these initiatives the host agency was identified as the Spanish Food Safety and Nutrition Authority (AESNA, since 2007), which played a key role. Throughout these meetings, the AESAN was recognised as the general manager, and a number of research groups were identified as potential members of a first working group that could lead the elaboration of the first Spanish food composition database version. An important question in the beginning was that of which research groups or which scientists should participate in the core group to lead the initiative. The decision was to begin with the AESAN as general manager, as well as to include a limited group of research groups as listed in Table 2. In addition, and following the recommendations of EuroFIR, WP 2.2 ‘‘Composite foods” were also invited to send representatives of the Spanish Food and Drink Industry Federation (FIAB) and of the Foundation for Agrifood Development (TRIPTOLEMOS) (Table 2), as a link to the Spanish food companies and consumers. For the future, and in order to
Table 2 Spanish food composition database network (RedBDECA) participants Institution/centre
Scientist
Category
Universidad de Murcia (UM) – BDECA – Coordinator
Dr. Gaspar Ros Berruezo Dra. Mª Jesús Periago Castón
Analysts Compiler User
Centre d’Ensenyament Superior de Nutrició i
Dr. Andreu Farran Codina (2005–07) Raimon Milà Villarroel (2005–07) Dietètica (CESNID-UB) – EuroFIR partner Dra. Rosaura Farré (2008)
Compilers
Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de Dr. Emilio Martínez de los Victoria Muñoz Alimentos (INYTA-UG) – EuroFIR partner Dr. Mariano Mañas Almendros
Compilers
Agencia Española de Seguridad Alimentaria (AESA) – EuroFIR UAG member
Dra. Lourdes Suárez González
Users
Universidad Complutense de Madrid I (UCM)
Dra. Rosa Mª Ortega Anta Dra. Ana Mª Requejo Marcos
Compilers
Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro (HUPH)
Dr. Fernando Granado Lorencio
Analysts
Instituto del Frío-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IF-CSIC)
Dra. Begoña Olmedilla Alonso
Analysts
Users
Users
Users
Instituto de la Grasa-Consejo Superior de Dr. Antonio Garrido Investigaciones Científicas (IG-CSIC) Fernández Dr. Antonio López López
Analysts
Universidad de Córdoba (UC)
Dr. Rafael Moreno Rojas Dr. Manuel A. Amaro López
Analists
Universidad de Barcelona (UB)
Dr. Rafael Codony Salcedo
Analysts
Universidad Complutense de Madrid II (UCM)
Dra. Olga Moreiras Varela
Compilers
Federación de Industrias de la Alimentación y Bebidas (FIAB)
Dr. Federico Morais Users
Data provider
Fundación Triptolemos
Dr. Joan Permanyer Dra. Ivonne Colomer
Users
Compilers
Users
update the Spanish food database, there was an agreement to make an open call to participate in the food composition database to other Spanish scientists, official institutions, food companies and consumer associations. To support these activities, and in order to maintain the meeting of the core groups, financial support was requested from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education as a ‘special action’. One of the bases for the request was to formally create the Spanish food composition database that was named RedBDECA. Finally, it was approved with the reference AGL2005-24940-E and coordinated by Gaspar Ros from the University of Murcia. With this important step forward two main goals were accomplished: (1) the identification of a consensual food database (RedBDECA), and (2) the definition of the network groups (Table 2). With this background, AESNAN funded the network to support these activities, and within their master plan for public health promotion drew up a grant contract. Data generation was difficult at this stage of the food database and the members of the network had to provide their own generated or compiled food composition data. The budget granted was needed mainly to support travelling and meetings, and in some cases the staff linked to data management from the other members of the network.
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2.2. The objectives of Spanish food composition database Based on several meetings held by the members of the Spanish Food Composition Database Network, main objectives have been defined as: (1) to recognise the AESNA as the general manager of the network; (2) to identify and evaluate the main sources of data existing at the present time and other potential sources; (3) to collaborate with EuroFIR on the establishment of a European data platform for the composition of foods; (4) to design and develop a web page that serves as an internal communication platform for the network as well as for dissemination of its activities; and (5) to build a stable system to maintain and update the food composition database for Spain. 3. The inventory begins with the Spanish food composition database and the webpage To begin the inventory of the potential food composition data and build the first version of the database, a questionnaire was circulated amongest the participants of the network. The 14 questions were oriented towards describing the data characteristics that each member of the network group could provide to the database. The questionnaire provided details on the characteristics of the data. The most important information obtained from the questionnaires is summarised in Tables 3 and 4. As can be observed, the majority can provide detailed information on foods, components, values and methods used to determine values. A weak point was the absence of Langual codification or INFOODS or EUROFOODS codes, which only could be provided by one of the network members. On the other hand, the majority of the centres could also provide analytical data obtained from their own laboratories (Farran et al., Table 3 Answers to the level of documentation of data that each RedBDECA partner can supply to the first version of the Spanish food composition database Affirmative Food documentation h Common name h Taxonomic name h Technological treatment h Cooking preparation process h Langual code h Additional information (maduration, brand, sampling, etc.) Component documentation h Component name h Detailed definition of the component h INFOODS or EUROFOODS codes Value documentation All values: h Mode of expression h Method of obtention (analytical, estimated or calculated) Analytical values: h Analytical method h Date of analysis h Sampling details h Detailed description of samples Calculated values: h Calculation method h Factors used Estimated values: h Estimation methods Sources of information h Own analysis h Food composition tables h Food companies h Scientific articles h Food labels h Other sources (grey literature, labs bulletins, etc.) a
In some cases, no estimation methods are used.
7 7 7 7 1 (Dairy products) 2 7 7 1
7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 3a 6 2 3 3 1 1
2005). It is also remarkable that the number of food items was large enough (more than 2000) to create the first version. Also, the large number of nutrients needed to be reviewed and harmonised. Since the other task was the design of the network logo and to build an online system to exchange information, there was a call within the network for ideas. For the logo, several ideas were presented and finally the one proposed by the University of Granada with the figure of an olive, the Spanish flag and a chromatogram in the centre (Fig. 1) was selected. The website would be hosted at the University of Granada with the URL www.bedca.com. Also, the webpage was registered in all of the final extensions (.com, .org, and .es), and the BDECA acronym was replaced by BEDCA. To access the system all visitors will need to be registered. The use of the website will be for food composition data consultation and also data upload and download by authorised personal. A manual for users has been prepared and will be available for authorised personnel to update the information. 4. An approach to the management structure of the Spanish food composition database One important aspect of any Spanish food composition database is the management structure. This has not been discussed deeply by the RedBDECA/AESAN, but general ideas about scope, responsibilities, data generation/data sources, data acquisition and processing, and dissemination based on the structure defined by EuroFIR for WP2.1, The management structure of European food composition databases (Hodgkins, 2006) have been presented. It also became important to obtain sufficient stable funding sources via the government as well as to establish an organisation dedicated to maintaining and expanding the future Spanish database. 4.1. Scope The Spanish national food composition database will be called Base de Datos Española de Compsición de Alimentos (BEDCA). Currently it is under construction, but it will include more than 1000 food items with more than 250 components. The first version will be available in autumn 2008. The operative version, available in 2009, will include food classification and descriptions that are uniform with the European Network of food composition databases. It will require updates every two to three years. It is expected to be used for national consumption surveys. 4.2. Responsibilities It is expected that the Spanish Food Safety and Nutrition Agency (a body of the Ministry of Health and Consumer Protection) will maintain the BEDCA with the cooperation of a still not defined structure of the network (BDECA Network) that will help and support the data exchange and compilation process, as well as the maintenance of the national nutrient databank. It is necessary to define a mechanism to enlarge the number of members of the Network, probably by providing updated data to the database. It is expected to generate commercial income from royalties since it may be an important and direct budgeting cycle. A stable task force is expected to be created, including at least one nutritionist and one computer scientist. To get ideas for a network system the models used in Belgium like NUBEL (Anonymous, 2005) and the Dutch TNO Foundations (Beemster et al., 2001) were considered interesting prototypes. 4.3. Data generation/data sources Nutritional data will be obtained in a first version (2008) from the members of the Network (Section 4.2). Also, a consultant group is expected to be created from Federal and State Offices, the Food
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G. Ros et al. / Food Chemistry 113 (2009) 789–794 Table 4 Information provided for each BDECA partner on main origins of data, value types and management of Spanish food composition database CESNID
INYTA
UMU
UCM1
UCM2
UCO
IG-CSIC
HPH IF-CSIC
UB
Data source Food composition tables Food industry Scientific articles Other sources (lab. analyses)
75 6 18 1
70 8 7 15
0 0 0 100
– – – –
95 0 0 5
0 0 0 100
0 0 0 100
0 0 0 100
0 0 0 100
Data generation Analytical Estimated or calculated Unknown
31 23 46
30 20 50
100 0 0
– – –
15 85 0
100 0 0
100 0 0
100 0 0
90 10 0
Data management Excel Access, oracle Informatics programme Other (hard-copy, paper, etc.)
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Yes Yes
–
Yes – –
Yes
Yes Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes Yes
Yes Yes Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Food items and nutrients Food items Nutrients
557 >250
1138 60
153 42
86 17
124 27
63 15
21 –
40 27
CESNID, Centre d’Ensenyament Superior de Nutrició i Dietética.- EuroFIR partner; INYTA, Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos. Universidad de GranadaEuroFIR partner; UMU, Nutrición y Bromatología Universidad de Murcia.- RedBDECA coordinator; UCM1, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM2, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCO, Universidad de Córdoba; IG-CSIC, Instituto de la Grasa-CSIC Sevilla; HPH, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro. Madrid, IF-CSIC, instituto del FríoCSIC Madrid; UB, Universidad de Barcelona.
Industry, and Consumer Associations that will be invited to provide some limited data and test the BEDCA functionality. A model of quality has to be designed to warranty the quality of the new data. A platform within the BEDCA will be implemented to structure an online calculation platform that will amalgamate the analytical values, portion size, yield and retention factors. The final version (2009) will define the future needs and requests to Universities, Official Laboratories, Federal and State Offices, the Food Industry, Consumer Associations or any competent body. Industries will be important to maintain the BEDCA; the Spanish Federation of Food and Drink Companies (FIAB) as well as Triptolemus Foundation will organise the mechanisms. The Spanish participants in EuroFIR work package 1.6 ‘‘Food Identification and Description” will take advantage of the codification work in LanguaL so as to unify and codify the food lists of the databases comprising the BDECA Network. 4.4. Data acquisition and processing The RedBDECA/AESAN task force will have to acquire, validate, process, document, structure and publish the database in versions after 2009. Part of the acquisition procedure will be the selection of relevant foods and dishes to be included in the database. The most commonly consumed foods for which specific nutritional values
Fig. 1. Logo and URL address of the Spanish food composition database network.
can be updated or added will be preferential. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will provide the data. A quality system for data has to be settled upon. 4.5. Dissemination Once the BEDCA data is generated by the software programme of the online calculation platform they will be transferred to the Online Portal (www.bedca.com) which will be accessible to customers and users. Royalties have to be decided by RedBDECA/AESAN for the use of the BEDCA. A user feedback mechanism will be important for the proposed goal and will play an important role in updating the database. 5. Conclusion Main potential sources of data on the composition of Spanish foods have been identified and characterised in relation to amount of data, documentation, food description, origin of composition values, method of generation and format. These data will set up the basis for the elaboration of the first version of the Spanish reference food composition database. Industries have been contacted in order to begin work on the transference of data from food companies to the Spanish food composition database. The Spanish initiative for the creation of a unique food composition database is based on the consensus that the Spanish Food Safety and Nutrition Agency should lead the project. Also, it is important to underline the efforts of the enthusiastic scientists who have been enrolled ‘‘romantically” into the RedBEDCA and BEDCA project, and food industry associations that have been supporting the project. Economic support is needed to improve the already-existing data and to generate a stable structure to continue the BEDCA and keep it up to date. Also, EuroFIR plays an important role in challenging the authorities that now see the track that they have to follow. The launching of the EuroFIR Network of Excellence has provided a unique opportunity to finally develop a reference food composition database for Spain. On one hand, it can help in raising the consciousness of the government on the importance of having such a key tool available so as to be able to conduct nutrition studies, as well as to develop food policies and implications for the food industry. On the other hand, the Spanish EuroFIR partners (CESNID-UB, UGR) are able to transfer knowledge generated within
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EuroFIR, resolving the scientific and technical issues of the project whilst also contributing to the application of these solutions directly to the development of the Spanish food composition database. Hopefully, politicians will keep supporting this important tool for public health. Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank the Spanish Food Safety and Nutrition Authority (AESAN) and the Education and Science Ministry for the economic support with a research contract, and the Special action Project AGL2005-24940-E/ALI: BASE DE DATOS ESPAÑOLA DE COMPOSICION DE LOS ALIMENTOS (BDECA), respectively. The authors also thank members of RedBDECA: Jesús Periago Castón, Raimon Milà Villarroel, Mariano Mañas Almendros, Jesús Campos Amado, Lourdes Suárez González, Rosa Mª Ortega Anta, Ana Mª Requejo Marcos, Begoña Olmedilla Alonso, Fernando Granado Lorencio,Antonio Garrido Fernández, Antonio López López, Rafael Moreno Rojas, Manuel A. Amaro López, Rafael Codony Salcedo, Olga Moreiras Varela, Federico Morais Users, Joan Permanyer, Ivonne Colomer and Ramón Clotet. References Atwater, W.O., Woods, C.D. (1896). The chemical composition of American food materials. US department of agriculture, Office of experiment stations, Washington. Bulletin 28, pp. 1–47. Anonymous (2005). ‘‘Nubel” Belgian food composition data. Numéro d’identification: 11112/90. NOUVEAUX STATUTS – NOMINATIONS CONSEIL D’ADMINISTRATION. Brussel, Belgium. Benegas, J.R., Villar, F., Gil, E., Carretero, M.L., Arranz, I., Aranceta, J. et al. (1994). Directrices para la elaboración de estudios poblacionales de alimentación y
nutrición. Madrid: Dirección General de Salud Pública, Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, Report No. 2. Beemster, C.J.M., van der Heijden, L.J.M., Hulshof, K.F.A.M., Langius, J.A.E, van Oosten, H.M, Pruissen-Boskaljon, J.C. (2001). NEVO Table. Dutch food composition table. New York: Springer. Charrondiere, U. R., Vignat, J., Møller, A., Ireland, J., Becker, W., Church, S., et al. (2002). The European nutrient database (ENDB) for nutritional database. Journal of Food Composition and Analyses, 15, 435–451. Chatfield, C. (1949). Food composition tables for international use FAO nutritional study no. 3. Washington, DC: FAO UN. Church, S. M. (2006). The history of food composition databases. British Nutrition Foundation Nutrition Bulletin, 31, 15–20. Darby, W. J. (1994). Contributions of Atwater and CISDA to knowledge of nutrient requirements. The Journal of Nutrition, 124, 1733S–1737S. Deharveng, G., Charrondiere, U. R., Slimani, N., Southgate, D. A. T., & Riboli, E. (1999). Comparison of nutrients in the food composition tables available in the nine European countries participating in EPIC. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 53, 60–79. Farran, A., Martínez de Victoria, E., Milà, R., Mañas, M., Martínez, A., Ngo, J. et al. (2005). Creation of a Spanish food composition data base: First steps. In Proceedings of the first EuroFIR congress, 28 February, London. Hodgkins, Ch. (2006). The management structure of European food composition databases – A guide. Personal communication. König, J. (1879). Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel. Erster Theil. Chemische Zusammensetzung der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel. Berlin: Julius Springer. König, J. (1880). Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel. Zweiter Theil. Die menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel, ihre Herstellung, Zusammensetzung und Beschaffenheit, ihre Verfälschungen und deren Nachweisung. Berlin: Julius Springer. Mañas Almendros, M., Martínez de Victoria Muños, E., Yago Torregrosa, M.D. (2005). 2.1. Tablas de composición de alimentos y bases de datos nutricionales. In Tratado de nutrición. Tomo II: Composición y calidad nutritiva de los alimentos (pp. 1–34). Granada, Spain: Editorial Acción Médica. Slimani, N., Deharveng, G., Unwin, I., Southgate, D. A., Vignat, J., Skeie, G., et al. (2007). The EPIC nutrient database project (ENDB): A first attempt to standardise nutrient databases across the 10 European countries participating in the EPIC study. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 61(9), 1037–1056. van Eekelen, M., Janssen, B.C.P., Straub, J. (1941). Voedingsmiddelentabel.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Food Chemistry journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem
Spanish food composition database: A challenge for a consensus G. Ros a,*, E. Martínez de Victoria b, A. Farran c,1 a b c
Nutrición y Bromatología, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Murcia, 30071 Murcia, Spain Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain CESNID (Centre for Superior Studies in Nutrition and Dietetics), Spain
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Received 11 December 2007 Received in revised form 14 July 2008 Accepted 21 July 2008
Keywords: Food composition Food database EuroFIR Spanish network RedBEDCA
a b s t r a c t Food composition tables have become important tools to estimate and monitor the nutritional composition of foods next to chemical analysis. However, as analytical methods, calculation methods and obtained results differ significantly within various sources of food composition information. Because calculation methods and obtained results differ significantly within various sources of food composition information, it is indeed a challenge to build, harmonise and compile a food composition database from scattered resources and hard copy tables. This situation has been challenged and addressed in Spain with the support of EuroFIR and governmental bodies (Spanish Food Safety and Nutrition Authority, AESAN), and the Spanish Food Composition Database Network (RedBDECA) has been set up. The proposed aims of the initiative are: to identify and evaluate the main sources of food composition data in Spain; to promote communication within national groups and with EuroFIR; to design and develop a web page for the dissemination of its activities; and to create a consortium to ensure the sustainability of the Spanish Food Composition Database. Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. History of the food composition tables in Spain 1.1. The international scenario The first published food composition data in a tabulated form was in Germany by Josep König in 1879–1880 (König, 1879, 1880), followed by Atwater and Woods (Atwater & Woods, 1896) in the USA. The impact of Atwater’s work on food composition is well known not only for the larger number of food items (about 2600) with a wide range of raw food composition (from meat, cereals, fruit and vegetable food groups), but also for his inclusion of processed foods, such as chocolate and sausages, for the first time in the history of food composition food tables. Values were presented for the ‘fuel value’, water, protein, carbohydrate (calculated ‘by difference’), ash and ‘refuse’ content of foods (Church, 2006). Atwater’s work also was on food intake, human health and economic well-being, and played a pivotal role in the USA (Darby, 1994) as well as in all countries for many years. To find the first set of international food composition tables we have to wait until 1949, when the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) published the ‘Food Composition Tables for International Use’ (Chatfield, 1949). Although the main objective of these international food composition tables was to help assess world food availability, it * Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 646425959; fax: +34 968364147. E-mail address: [email protected] (G. Ros). 1 Present Address: University of Barcelona, Spain. 0308-8146/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2008.07.087
was also recognised that national food composition tables were more accurate for this purpose. However, such tables did not exist for most countries at the time. For that reason, the FAO expanded its work in the 1960s and 1970s to produce regional food composition tables for Asia, Africa and Latin America. 1.2. The Spanish situation In Spain, very slight attention was paid to food composition tables prior to the XX century and published references about them cannot be found. Several efforts were made during the first half of the century, mainly by academia, to study the chemical composition of Spanish foods (Table 1). However, it cannot be considered as ‘official food data’ for food composition tables like in some of the earlier European ‘official’ food composition tables, including those published in The Netherlands (van Eekelen, Janssen, & Straub, 1941) and Italy (Istituto della Nutrizione, 1946). The reason why they did not exist in Spain was not relevant, maybe due to the fact that no official body was responsible for the generation of an official food composition table. Following these patterns, academia (mainly the Universities) took a very active role and several food composition tables were generated in the second half of the century, mainly in the 80s and 90s (Table 1). This occurrence was linked in time to two international initiatives: the INFOODS (International Network of Food Data Systems) and DAFNE (DAta Food NEtworking). INFOODS was established in 1984 on the basis of the recommendations of
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Table 1 Spanish food composition tables published to date Authors
Spanish title/editorial
English title (translated)
Year of edition/ number or reeditions
Torres Salas, I.
Contribución al estudio de la composición química de los alimentos españoles./Santander. Ed. Talleres Resura Tesis. UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID
Contribution to the study of the chemical composition of Spanish foods
1932
Vázquez Sánchez, J.
Sobre la composición química de los alimentos españoles./Madrid. Gaceta Médica Española Tesis. UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID
On the chemical composition of Spanish foods
1932
Comenge, M.
Principios bioquímicos de dietética normal y tablas de composición de los alimentos españoles./Madrid: A.G.I.
Biochemical principles for normal dietetics and composition tables for Spanish foods
1946
Alonso Samaniego, J.M.
Factores dietéticos y tablas de composición de alimentos /Madrid: Alter Departamento de Investigación
Dietetic factors and food composition tables
1951
Casares Lopez, R., García Olmedo, R., Valls Pallés, C.
Tratado de bromatología/ Madrid, Universidad Complutense With food composition tables compiled using data from FAO, the National Food Science School and the ARMY. First edition was in 1942
Food science treaty
1978/5°
Marcos, A., Fernández Salguero, J., Esteban, A., León, F., Alcalá, M., Beltrán de Heredia, F.H.
Quesos españoles. Tablas de composición, valour nutritivo y estabilidad./ Córdoba: Departamento de Tecnología de los Alimentos – Universidad de Córdoba
Spanish cheeses. Food composition tables, nutritive value and stability
1985
Vivanco, F., Palacios, J.M.
Tabla de composición de alimentos españoles./Dirección General de Salud Pública – Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo
Food composition tables of Spanish foods
1985
Casamitjana, N.
Taula de composició d’aliments per a ús clínic./Fundació Sardà Farriol
Food composition tables for clinical use
1986
Jiménez Cruz, A., Cervera Ral, P.
Tabla de composición de alimentos/Barcelona: Wander SAE New editions have been published sponsorized by Wander, Sandoz, and lately Novartis
Food composition tables
1988
Mataix Verdú, J., Mañas Almendros, M., Llopis González, J., Martinez de Victoria, E.
Tabla de composición de alimentos españoles./Granada: Universidad de Granada
Food composition tables of Spanish foods
1993/4 (2003)
Moreiras Varela, O., Carbajal, A., Cabrera, L.
Tablas de composición de alimentos./ Madrid, Instituto de Nutrición (CSIC) New editions have been published with some changes in the list of authors. Last edition was in 2003
Food composition tables
1995
Requejo, A., Ortega, R.M., Carvajales, P y col.
Tablas de composición de alimentos españoles./Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo. Secretaría General Técnica. Centro de Publicaciones The first known temptative to produce a FCT only with the direct method (analyzing all the foods). The list of foods have been enlarged in 1999, but it does not exceed one hundred foods
Food composition tables of Spanish foods
1995
Martín Peña, G.
Tabla de composición de alimentos (versión 2.1)/Madrid: Nutricia
Food composition tables (version 2.1)
1997
Bello Gutiérrez, J., Candela Delgado, M., Astiasarán Anchía, I.
Tablas de composición para platos cocinados. /Madrid: Díaz de Santos
Tables of composition for cooked plates
1998
Farran, A., Zamora, R., Cervera, P.
Tablas de composición de los alimentos del CESNID – Taules de composició dels alimentos del CESNID /Edicions UB – McGraw-Hill Interamericana
CESNID food composition tables
2003
Ortega, R.M., López-Sobaler, A.M., Requejo, A.M., Andrés, P.
La composición de los alimentos. Herramienta básica para la valoración nutricional./ Ed. Complutense. Madrid
The composition of foods. A basic tool for nutritional assessment
2004
Those used more for dissemination purposes or translations of foreign tables are not included.
an international group convened under the auspices of the United Nations University (UNU). Its goal was to stimulate and coordinate efforts to improve the quality and availability of food analysis data worldwide and to ensure that anyone, anywhere, would be able to obtain adequate and reliable food composition data. The DAFNE initiative was the joint effort of European countries to compare the food habits of their populations and monitor trends in food availability over time, through the creation of a non-static, regularlyupdated food databank. The overall aim was to develop a nutrition monitoring tool that could assist in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of nutritional policies across Europe. The first Spanish developments came years after tables were produced in other countries like the UK, where the Widdowson’s food composition tables were created in 1967, with different versions revised in 1974 and 1993. It was not until 1995 that an agree-
ment between the Ministry of Health and the University of Madrid (Complutense) produced officially ‘‘The Spanish Food Composition Tables,” which collected the 68 most frequently consumed foods in Spain (Mañas Almendros, Martínez de Victoria Muños, & Yago Torregrosa, 2005). Previous to the first official table, information on food composition was spread by scientific papers at the University and Research institutes, as well as in National Laboratories, mainly the Ministries of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health. Two main aspects should be underlined related to the first Spanish food composition table: (1) that all food composition data was generated in the same laboratory (Department of Human Nutrition II of the Universidad Complutense of Madrid, lead by Professors Requejo and Ortega), and (2) that the idea was that these food composition tables could be updated periodically and include new food items, complete with new analyses. However, the project was discontin-
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ued as projected in the beginning. Also, the analytical methods as well as quality criteria for food data composition generation changed during the years, reasons that made these food composition tables in need of a review. Other food composition tables were generated in the 90s and in 2000, and new versions published in the XXI century (Table 1). Spain also participated, through CESNID (Centro de Enseñanza Superior de Nutrición y Dietética/Higher Education Center for Nutrition and Dietetics), in a large network involving national compilers, nutritionists and experts on food chemistry and computer science. The ‘EPIC Nutrient DataBase’ (ENDB) (Slimani et al., 2007) was created. It was a consequence of the inconsistent values for some nutrients and due to the large amount of foods reported within EPIC (European countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition), where 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” (Deharveng, Charrondiere, Slimani, Southgate, & Riboli, 1999). 2. Initiatives for the coordination of food composition database in Spain: The Spanish food composition database network (RedBDECA) In Spain the use of different food composition tables has been an obstacle in making comparisons between various national studies as well as in participating in international multicentric evaluations (Charrondiere et al., 2002). The diversity of existing tables causes significant problems, especially when comparing results obtained from nutrition studies using different food composition tables, which differ in key aspects such as definition of nutrients, description of foods and methods of elaboration. Such differences may introduce considerable bias in the estimates of nutrient intakes (Benegas et al., 1994; Charrondiere et al., 2002). For the above-mentioned reason it was an important challenge to launch a consensual food composition database and to make it sustainable through time. 2.1. The key role of the EuroFIR and AESAN A key aspect in the challenge of the coordination of a unified food composition database was to identify the main national governmental agency to compile all efforts in this direction. In addition, a goal of the Spanish group in the EuroFIR was to generate a unique Spanish Food Composition Database and to address the lack of a reference for Spain. So, the three Spanish EuroFIR partners initiated meetings with Spanish research groups to begin to work on resolving this issue. It was also a long process since several meetings were needed to get a consensus. To condense these initiatives the host agency was identified as the Spanish Food Safety and Nutrition Authority (AESNA, since 2007), which played a key role. Throughout these meetings, the AESAN was recognised as the general manager, and a number of research groups were identified as potential members of a first working group that could lead the elaboration of the first Spanish food composition database version. An important question in the beginning was that of which research groups or which scientists should participate in the core group to lead the initiative. The decision was to begin with the AESAN as general manager, as well as to include a limited group of research groups as listed in Table 2. In addition, and following the recommendations of EuroFIR, WP 2.2 ‘‘Composite foods” were also invited to send representatives of the Spanish Food and Drink Industry Federation (FIAB) and of the Foundation for Agrifood Development (TRIPTOLEMOS) (Table 2), as a link to the Spanish food companies and consumers. For the future, and in order to
Table 2 Spanish food composition database network (RedBDECA) participants Institution/centre
Scientist
Category
Universidad de Murcia (UM) – BDECA – Coordinator
Dr. Gaspar Ros Berruezo Dra. Mª Jesús Periago Castón
Analysts Compiler User
Centre d’Ensenyament Superior de Nutrició i
Dr. Andreu Farran Codina (2005–07) Raimon Milà Villarroel (2005–07) Dietètica (CESNID-UB) – EuroFIR partner Dra. Rosaura Farré (2008)
Compilers
Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de Dr. Emilio Martínez de los Victoria Muñoz Alimentos (INYTA-UG) – EuroFIR partner Dr. Mariano Mañas Almendros
Compilers
Agencia Española de Seguridad Alimentaria (AESA) – EuroFIR UAG member
Dra. Lourdes Suárez González
Users
Universidad Complutense de Madrid I (UCM)
Dra. Rosa Mª Ortega Anta Dra. Ana Mª Requejo Marcos
Compilers
Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro (HUPH)
Dr. Fernando Granado Lorencio
Analysts
Instituto del Frío-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IF-CSIC)
Dra. Begoña Olmedilla Alonso
Analysts
Users
Users
Users
Instituto de la Grasa-Consejo Superior de Dr. Antonio Garrido Investigaciones Científicas (IG-CSIC) Fernández Dr. Antonio López López
Analysts
Universidad de Córdoba (UC)
Dr. Rafael Moreno Rojas Dr. Manuel A. Amaro López
Analists
Universidad de Barcelona (UB)
Dr. Rafael Codony Salcedo
Analysts
Universidad Complutense de Madrid II (UCM)
Dra. Olga Moreiras Varela
Compilers
Federación de Industrias de la Alimentación y Bebidas (FIAB)
Dr. Federico Morais Users
Data provider
Fundación Triptolemos
Dr. Joan Permanyer Dra. Ivonne Colomer
Users
Compilers
Users
update the Spanish food database, there was an agreement to make an open call to participate in the food composition database to other Spanish scientists, official institutions, food companies and consumer associations. To support these activities, and in order to maintain the meeting of the core groups, financial support was requested from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education as a ‘special action’. One of the bases for the request was to formally create the Spanish food composition database that was named RedBDECA. Finally, it was approved with the reference AGL2005-24940-E and coordinated by Gaspar Ros from the University of Murcia. With this important step forward two main goals were accomplished: (1) the identification of a consensual food database (RedBDECA), and (2) the definition of the network groups (Table 2). With this background, AESNAN funded the network to support these activities, and within their master plan for public health promotion drew up a grant contract. Data generation was difficult at this stage of the food database and the members of the network had to provide their own generated or compiled food composition data. The budget granted was needed mainly to support travelling and meetings, and in some cases the staff linked to data management from the other members of the network.
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2.2. The objectives of Spanish food composition database Based on several meetings held by the members of the Spanish Food Composition Database Network, main objectives have been defined as: (1) to recognise the AESNA as the general manager of the network; (2) to identify and evaluate the main sources of data existing at the present time and other potential sources; (3) to collaborate with EuroFIR on the establishment of a European data platform for the composition of foods; (4) to design and develop a web page that serves as an internal communication platform for the network as well as for dissemination of its activities; and (5) to build a stable system to maintain and update the food composition database for Spain. 3. The inventory begins with the Spanish food composition database and the webpage To begin the inventory of the potential food composition data and build the first version of the database, a questionnaire was circulated amongest the participants of the network. The 14 questions were oriented towards describing the data characteristics that each member of the network group could provide to the database. The questionnaire provided details on the characteristics of the data. The most important information obtained from the questionnaires is summarised in Tables 3 and 4. As can be observed, the majority can provide detailed information on foods, components, values and methods used to determine values. A weak point was the absence of Langual codification or INFOODS or EUROFOODS codes, which only could be provided by one of the network members. On the other hand, the majority of the centres could also provide analytical data obtained from their own laboratories (Farran et al., Table 3 Answers to the level of documentation of data that each RedBDECA partner can supply to the first version of the Spanish food composition database Affirmative Food documentation h Common name h Taxonomic name h Technological treatment h Cooking preparation process h Langual code h Additional information (maduration, brand, sampling, etc.) Component documentation h Component name h Detailed definition of the component h INFOODS or EUROFOODS codes Value documentation All values: h Mode of expression h Method of obtention (analytical, estimated or calculated) Analytical values: h Analytical method h Date of analysis h Sampling details h Detailed description of samples Calculated values: h Calculation method h Factors used Estimated values: h Estimation methods Sources of information h Own analysis h Food composition tables h Food companies h Scientific articles h Food labels h Other sources (grey literature, labs bulletins, etc.) a
In some cases, no estimation methods are used.
7 7 7 7 1 (Dairy products) 2 7 7 1
7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 3a 6 2 3 3 1 1
2005). It is also remarkable that the number of food items was large enough (more than 2000) to create the first version. Also, the large number of nutrients needed to be reviewed and harmonised. Since the other task was the design of the network logo and to build an online system to exchange information, there was a call within the network for ideas. For the logo, several ideas were presented and finally the one proposed by the University of Granada with the figure of an olive, the Spanish flag and a chromatogram in the centre (Fig. 1) was selected. The website would be hosted at the University of Granada with the URL www.bedca.com. Also, the webpage was registered in all of the final extensions (.com, .org, and .es), and the BDECA acronym was replaced by BEDCA. To access the system all visitors will need to be registered. The use of the website will be for food composition data consultation and also data upload and download by authorised personal. A manual for users has been prepared and will be available for authorised personnel to update the information. 4. An approach to the management structure of the Spanish food composition database One important aspect of any Spanish food composition database is the management structure. This has not been discussed deeply by the RedBDECA/AESAN, but general ideas about scope, responsibilities, data generation/data sources, data acquisition and processing, and dissemination based on the structure defined by EuroFIR for WP2.1, The management structure of European food composition databases (Hodgkins, 2006) have been presented. It also became important to obtain sufficient stable funding sources via the government as well as to establish an organisation dedicated to maintaining and expanding the future Spanish database. 4.1. Scope The Spanish national food composition database will be called Base de Datos Española de Compsición de Alimentos (BEDCA). Currently it is under construction, but it will include more than 1000 food items with more than 250 components. The first version will be available in autumn 2008. The operative version, available in 2009, will include food classification and descriptions that are uniform with the European Network of food composition databases. It will require updates every two to three years. It is expected to be used for national consumption surveys. 4.2. Responsibilities It is expected that the Spanish Food Safety and Nutrition Agency (a body of the Ministry of Health and Consumer Protection) will maintain the BEDCA with the cooperation of a still not defined structure of the network (BDECA Network) that will help and support the data exchange and compilation process, as well as the maintenance of the national nutrient databank. It is necessary to define a mechanism to enlarge the number of members of the Network, probably by providing updated data to the database. It is expected to generate commercial income from royalties since it may be an important and direct budgeting cycle. A stable task force is expected to be created, including at least one nutritionist and one computer scientist. To get ideas for a network system the models used in Belgium like NUBEL (Anonymous, 2005) and the Dutch TNO Foundations (Beemster et al., 2001) were considered interesting prototypes. 4.3. Data generation/data sources Nutritional data will be obtained in a first version (2008) from the members of the Network (Section 4.2). Also, a consultant group is expected to be created from Federal and State Offices, the Food
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G. Ros et al. / Food Chemistry 113 (2009) 789–794 Table 4 Information provided for each BDECA partner on main origins of data, value types and management of Spanish food composition database CESNID
INYTA
UMU
UCM1
UCM2
UCO
IG-CSIC
HPH IF-CSIC
UB
Data source Food composition tables Food industry Scientific articles Other sources (lab. analyses)
75 6 18 1
70 8 7 15
0 0 0 100
– – – –
95 0 0 5
0 0 0 100
0 0 0 100
0 0 0 100
0 0 0 100
Data generation Analytical Estimated or calculated Unknown
31 23 46
30 20 50
100 0 0
– – –
15 85 0
100 0 0
100 0 0
100 0 0
90 10 0
Data management Excel Access, oracle Informatics programme Other (hard-copy, paper, etc.)
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Yes Yes
–
Yes – –
Yes
Yes Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes Yes
Yes Yes Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Food items and nutrients Food items Nutrients
557 >250
1138 60
153 42
86 17
124 27
63 15
21 –
40 27
CESNID, Centre d’Ensenyament Superior de Nutrició i Dietética.- EuroFIR partner; INYTA, Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos. Universidad de GranadaEuroFIR partner; UMU, Nutrición y Bromatología Universidad de Murcia.- RedBDECA coordinator; UCM1, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM2, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCO, Universidad de Córdoba; IG-CSIC, Instituto de la Grasa-CSIC Sevilla; HPH, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro. Madrid, IF-CSIC, instituto del FríoCSIC Madrid; UB, Universidad de Barcelona.
Industry, and Consumer Associations that will be invited to provide some limited data and test the BEDCA functionality. A model of quality has to be designed to warranty the quality of the new data. A platform within the BEDCA will be implemented to structure an online calculation platform that will amalgamate the analytical values, portion size, yield and retention factors. The final version (2009) will define the future needs and requests to Universities, Official Laboratories, Federal and State Offices, the Food Industry, Consumer Associations or any competent body. Industries will be important to maintain the BEDCA; the Spanish Federation of Food and Drink Companies (FIAB) as well as Triptolemus Foundation will organise the mechanisms. The Spanish participants in EuroFIR work package 1.6 ‘‘Food Identification and Description” will take advantage of the codification work in LanguaL so as to unify and codify the food lists of the databases comprising the BDECA Network. 4.4. Data acquisition and processing The RedBDECA/AESAN task force will have to acquire, validate, process, document, structure and publish the database in versions after 2009. Part of the acquisition procedure will be the selection of relevant foods and dishes to be included in the database. The most commonly consumed foods for which specific nutritional values
Fig. 1. Logo and URL address of the Spanish food composition database network.
can be updated or added will be preferential. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will provide the data. A quality system for data has to be settled upon. 4.5. Dissemination Once the BEDCA data is generated by the software programme of the online calculation platform they will be transferred to the Online Portal (www.bedca.com) which will be accessible to customers and users. Royalties have to be decided by RedBDECA/AESAN for the use of the BEDCA. A user feedback mechanism will be important for the proposed goal and will play an important role in updating the database. 5. Conclusion Main potential sources of data on the composition of Spanish foods have been identified and characterised in relation to amount of data, documentation, food description, origin of composition values, method of generation and format. These data will set up the basis for the elaboration of the first version of the Spanish reference food composition database. Industries have been contacted in order to begin work on the transference of data from food companies to the Spanish food composition database. The Spanish initiative for the creation of a unique food composition database is based on the consensus that the Spanish Food Safety and Nutrition Agency should lead the project. Also, it is important to underline the efforts of the enthusiastic scientists who have been enrolled ‘‘romantically” into the RedBEDCA and BEDCA project, and food industry associations that have been supporting the project. Economic support is needed to improve the already-existing data and to generate a stable structure to continue the BEDCA and keep it up to date. Also, EuroFIR plays an important role in challenging the authorities that now see the track that they have to follow. The launching of the EuroFIR Network of Excellence has provided a unique opportunity to finally develop a reference food composition database for Spain. On one hand, it can help in raising the consciousness of the government on the importance of having such a key tool available so as to be able to conduct nutrition studies, as well as to develop food policies and implications for the food industry. On the other hand, the Spanish EuroFIR partners (CESNID-UB, UGR) are able to transfer knowledge generated within
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EuroFIR, resolving the scientific and technical issues of the project whilst also contributing to the application of these solutions directly to the development of the Spanish food composition database. Hopefully, politicians will keep supporting this important tool for public health. Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank the Spanish Food Safety and Nutrition Authority (AESAN) and the Education and Science Ministry for the economic support with a research contract, and the Special action Project AGL2005-24940-E/ALI: BASE DE DATOS ESPAÑOLA DE COMPOSICION DE LOS ALIMENTOS (BDECA), respectively. The authors also thank members of RedBDECA: Jesús Periago Castón, Raimon Milà Villarroel, Mariano Mañas Almendros, Jesús Campos Amado, Lourdes Suárez González, Rosa Mª Ortega Anta, Ana Mª Requejo Marcos, Begoña Olmedilla Alonso, Fernando Granado Lorencio,Antonio Garrido Fernández, Antonio López López, Rafael Moreno Rojas, Manuel A. Amaro López, Rafael Codony Salcedo, Olga Moreiras Varela, Federico Morais Users, Joan Permanyer, Ivonne Colomer and Ramón Clotet. References Atwater, W.O., Woods, C.D. (1896). The chemical composition of American food materials. US department of agriculture, Office of experiment stations, Washington. Bulletin 28, pp. 1–47. Anonymous (2005). ‘‘Nubel” Belgian food composition data. Numéro d’identification: 11112/90. NOUVEAUX STATUTS – NOMINATIONS CONSEIL D’ADMINISTRATION. Brussel, Belgium. Benegas, J.R., Villar, F., Gil, E., Carretero, M.L., Arranz, I., Aranceta, J. et al. (1994). Directrices para la elaboración de estudios poblacionales de alimentación y
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