A systematic review of reviews identifying UK validated dietary assessment tools for inclusion on an interactive guided website for researchers: www.nutritools.org.

Background: Health researchers may struggle to choose suitable validated dietary assessment tools (DATs) for their target population. The aim of this review was to identify and collate information on validated UK DATs and validation studies for inclusion on a website to support researchers to choose appropriate DATs.Design: A systematic review of reviews of DATs was undertaken. DATs validated in UK populations were extracted from the studies identified. A searchable website was designed to display these data. Additionally, mean differences and limits of agreement between test and comparison methods were summarized by a method, weighting by sample size.Results: Over 900 validation results covering 5 life stages, 18 nutrients, 6 dietary assessment methods, and 9 validation method types were extracted from 63 validated DATs which were identified from 68 reviews. These were incorporated into www.nutritools.org. Limits of agreement were determined for about half of validations. Thirty four DATs were FFQs. Only 17 DATs were validated against biomarkers, and only 19 DATs were validated in infant/children/adolescents.Conclusions: The interactive www.nutritools.org website holds extensive validation data identified from this review and can be used to guide researchers to critically compare and choose a suitable DAT for their research question, leading to improvement of nutritional epidemiology research.

Supplementation with [6S]-5-methyltetrahydrofolate or folic acid equally reduces serum homocysteine concentrations in older adults.

Folic acid (FA) supplementation reduces the elevated serum homocysteine (Hcy) concentrations. [6 S]-5-methyltetrahydrofolate ([6 S]-5-MTHF) is an alternative to FA due to possible advantages, that is, no masking cobalamin deficiency. The study aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of [6 S]-5-MTHF in relations to FA supplementation in reducing the serum Hcy. Healthy volunteers, aged 50-65, had normal serum folate and did not use supplements with B-vitamins for 6 months. Forty subjects were divided into two groups: receiving 400 µg/d FA or the equimolar amount of [6 S]-5-MTHF. Blood was collected at baseline and after 4 weeks. In both groups, a significant decrease in the mean Hcy level after intervention period was observed. Supplementation with [6 S]-5-MTHF was slightly less effective, but not significantly, in Hcy lowering than FA (p = .243 between the groups), that is, by 7.8% and 13.4%, respectively. The [6 S]-5-MTHF was shown to be an adequate alternative to FA in reducing Hcy concentrations.

DIET@NET: Best Practice Guidelines for dietary assessment in health research.

BACKGROUND: Dietary assessment is complex, and strategies to select the most appropriate dietary assessment tool (DAT) in epidemiological research are needed. The DIETary Assessment Tool NETwork (DIET@NET) aimed to establish expert consensus on Best Practice Guidelines (BPGs) for dietary assessment using self-report. METHODS: The BPGs were developed using the Delphi technique. Two Delphi rounds were conducted. A total of 131 experts were invited, and of these 65 accepted, with 48 completing Delphi round I and 51 completing Delphi round II. In all, a total of 57 experts from North America, Europe, Asia and Australia commented on the 47 suggested guidelines. RESULTS: Forty-three guidelines were generated, grouped into the following four stages: Stage I. Define what is to be measured in terms of dietary intake (what? who? and when?); Stage II. Investigate different types of DATs; Stage III. Evaluate existing tools to select the most appropriate DAT by evaluating published validation studies; Stage IV. Think through the implementation of the chosen DAT and consider sources of potential biases. CONCLUSIONS: The Delphi technique consolidated expert views on best practice in assessing dietary intake. The BPGs provide a valuable guide for health researchers to choose the most appropriate dietary assessment method for their studies. These guidelines will be accessible through the Nutritools website, www.nutritools.org .

Determinants of diet and physical activity (DEDIPAC): a summary of findings.

The establishment of the Determinants of Diet and Physical Activity (DEDIPAC) Knowledge Hub, 2013-2016, was the first action taken by the 'Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life' European Joint Programming Initiative. DEDIPAC aimed to provide better insight into the determinants of diet, physical activity and sedentary behaviour across the life course, i.e. insight into the causes of the causes of important, non-communicable diseases across Europe and beyond. DEDIPAC was launched in late 2013, and delivered its final report in late 2016. In this paper we give an overview of what was achieved in terms of furthering measurement and monitoring, providing overviews of the state-of-the-art in the field, and building toolboxes for further research and practice. Additionally, we propose some of the next steps that are now required to move forward in this field, arguing in favour of 1) sustaining the Knowledge Hub and developing it into a European virtual research institute and knowledge centre for determinants of behavioural nutrition and physical activity with close links to other parts of the world; 2) establishing a cohort study of families across all regions of Europe focusing specifically on the individual and contextual determinants of major, non-communicable disease; and 3) furthering DEDIPAC's work on nutrition, physical activity, and sedentary behaviour policy evaluation and benchmarking across Europe by aligning with other international initiatives and by supporting harmonisation of pan-European surveillance.

Adverse effects of plant food supplements and botanical preparations: a systematic review with critical evaluation of causality.

AIMS: The objective of this review was to collect available data on the following: (i) adverse effects observed in humans from the intake of plant food supplements or botanical preparations; (ii) the misidentification of poisonous plants; and (iii) interactions between plant food supplements/botanicals and conventional drugs or nutrients. METHODS: PubMed/MEDLINE and Embase were searched from database inception to June 2014, using the terms 'adverse effect/s', 'poisoning/s', 'plant food supplement/s', 'misidentification/s' and 'interaction/s' in combination with the relevant plant name. All papers were critically evaluated according to the World Health Organization Guidelines for causality assessment. RESULTS: Data were obtained for 66 plants that are common ingredients of plant food supplements; of the 492 papers selected, 402 (81.7%) dealt with adverse effects directly associated with the botanical and 89 (18.1%) concerned interactions with conventional drugs. Only one case was associated with misidentification. Adverse effects were reported for 39 of the 66 botanical substances searched. Of the total references, 86.6% were associated with 14 plants, including Glycine max/soybean (19.3%), Glycyrrhiza glabra/liquorice (12.2%), Camellia sinensis/green tea ( 8.7%) and Ginkgo biloba/gingko (8.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Considering the length of time examined and the number of plants included in the review, it is remarkable that: (i) the adverse effects due to botanical ingredients were relatively infrequent, if assessed for causality; and (ii) the number of severe clinical reactions was very limited, but some fatal cases have been described. Data presented in this review were assessed for quality in order to make the results maximally useful for clinicians in identifying or excluding deleterious effects of botanicals.

Towards the integration and development of a cross-European research network and infrastructure: the DEterminants of DIet and Physical ACtivity (DEDIPAC) Knowledge Hub.

To address major societal challenges and enhance cooperation in research across Europe, the European Commission has initiated and facilitated 'joint programming'. Joint programming is a process by which Member States engage in defining, developing and implementing a common strategic research agenda, based on a shared vision of how to address major societal challenges that no Member State is capable of resolving independently. Setting up a Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) should also contribute to avoiding unnecessary overlap and repetition of research, and enable and enhance the development and use of standardised research methods, procedures and data management. The Determinants of Diet and Physical Activity (DEDIPAC) Knowledge Hub (KH) is the first act of the European JPI 'A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life'. The objective of DEDIPAC is to contribute to improving understanding of the determinants of dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours. DEDIPAC KH is a multi-disciplinary consortium of 46 consortia and organisations supported by joint programming grants from 12 countries across Europe. The work is divided into three thematic areas: (I) assessment and harmonisation of methods for future research, surveillance and monitoring, and for evaluation of interventions and policies; (II) determinants of dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours across the life course and in vulnerable groups; and (III) evaluation and benchmarking of public health and policy interventions aimed at improving dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours. In the first three years, DEDIPAC KH will organise, develop, share and harmonise expertise, methods, measures, data and other infrastructure. This should further European research and improve the broad multi-disciplinary approach needed to study the interactions between multilevel determinants in influencing dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours. Insights will be translated into more effective interventions and policies for the promotion of healthier behaviours and more effective monitoring and evaluation of the impacts of such interventions.

A comparative analysis of nutritional quality, amino acid profile, and nutritional supplementations in plant-based products and their animal-based counterparts in the UK.

Plant-based (PB) food products have surged in popularity over the past decade. Available PB products in the UK market were extracted from NielsenIQ Brandbank and compared with animal-based (AB) counterparts in their nutrient contents and calculated Nutri-Scores. The amino acid contents of four beef products and their PB alternatives were analysed by LC-MS/MS. PB products consistently exhibited significantly higher fibre content across all food groups. Protein was significantly higher in AB products from all food groups except beef and ready meals. PB products were more likely to have higher Nutri-Scores compared to AB counterparts, albeit with greater score variability within each food group. Nutrient fortifications were primarily focused on dairy and ready meals; the most supplemented nutrient was vitamin B12 (found in 15% of all products). A higher proportion of EAAs in relation to total protein content was observed in all beef products.

Traditional foods from the Black Sea region as a potential source of minerals.

BACKGROUND: In the past few years, minerals have assumed great importance in public health. As a consequence, considerable research has been carried out to better understand their physiological role and the health consequences of mineral-deficient diets, to establish criteria for defining the degree of public health severity of malnutrition, and to develop prevention and control strategies. In most countries, there is limited information on the mineral content of traditional foods, and consequently it is very difficult to estimate mineral intake across these countries. RESULTS: Ten minerals were quantified in 33 traditional foods from Black Sea area countries. Our results indicate a considerable variability among the analysed traditional foods; nevertheless, the most abundant components were sodium (ranging from 40.0 to 619 mg 100 g(-1), for kvass southern and herbal dish, respectively), potassium (varied between 45.5 mg 100 g(-1) for millet ale and 938 mg 100 g(-1) for roasted sunflower seeds), and phosphorus (22.2 mg 100 g(-1) and 681 mg 100 g(-1) for sauerkraut and roasted sunflower seeds, respectively). CONCLUSION: This is the first study that provides validated data on the mineral content for 33 traditional foods from Black Sea area countries, which is important in order to elucidate their role in the dietary pattern of populations and to preserve and promote these foods.

New nutritional composition data on selected traditional foods consumed in Black Sea Area countries.

BACKGROUND: Traditional foods are an important part of the culture, history, identity and heritage of a region or country and are key elements in dietary patterns. In most countries there is limited information on the nutritional composition of such foods and therefore there is a need to investigate, register and promote traditional foods. One of the aims within the 'Sustainable exploitation of bioactive components from the Black Sea Area traditional foods' (BaSeFood) project is to generate for the first time new data on the nutritional composition of traditional foods from six Black Sea Area countries to promote their sustainable development and exploitation. RESULTS: Thirty-three traditional foods were analysed in an accredited laboratory to determine their nutritional composition, and the data were fully documented. The nutrient content varied widely because of the nature and variety of the analysed foods. The energy content ranged between 4 kcal per 100 g for kvass southern and 900 kcal per 100 g for mustard oil, with the exception of the analysed teas, which did not contribute to energy intake. CONCLUSION: The use of a common methodology for the study of traditional foods will enable countries to further investigate these foods. Moreover, a new nutritional knowledge base of traditional foods from Black Sea Area countries will contribute to promote local biodiversity and sustainable diets by maintaining healthy dietary patterns within local cultures.

Definition and documentation of traditional foods of the Black Sea Area Countries: potential nutrition claims.

BACKGROUND: Nutrition and health claims are permitted in foods marketed in the European Union under Regulation 1924/2006. Quality products such as traditional foods might benefit from this act, as it can highlight their nutritional richness. In this study the nutritional content of 33 traditional foods from the Black Sea Area Countries was evaluated against the thresholds of the Regulation for nutrition claims. RESULTS: Most of the foods were eligible to bear several nutrition claims, mostly related to their fat, sugar, fiber and sodium content. The average number of claims per traditional food was two, with a range between zero and nine. Overall, about 72 nutrition claims were potentially relevant for the 33 traditional foods studied. Foods linked with the most claims were nuts and seeds. CONCLUSION: The inclusion of traditional foods under this standardized European scheme could be an efficient way to highlight their possible beneficial nutritional properties. The production and marketing of traditional foods could be of benefit to both the health of consumers and the economic viability of producers, especially small- and medium-size enterprises.

Carotenoids, vitamins (A, B2, C and E) and total folate of traditional foods from Black Sea Area countries.

BACKGROUND: Carotenoids, vitamins (A, B2, C and E) and total folate are related to health promotion. However, there are still many food matrices for which the content of these compounds is not available. In order to fill this gap, traditional foods from Black Sea Area countries (BSAC) were analysed in order to investigate their potential health benefits. RESULTS: The most abundant carotenoid was ß-carotene. Plum jam was the sample with the highest ß-carotene content (608 µg 100 g(-1) edible portion). The group of vegetables and vegetable-based foods contributed most to ß-carotene content. Evergreen cherry laurel presented the highest l-ascorbic acid content (29.9 mg 100 g(-1) edible portion), while the highest riboflavin and total folate contents were found for roasted sunflower seeds. Approximately 61% of the analysed samples showed quantifiable amounts of α-tocopherol but did not contain retinol. CONCLUSION: Despite the great variability in the content of carotenoids, vitamins and total folate, most of the analysed traditional foods from BSAC can be considered good sources of these compounds. Therefore, owing to their putative health benefits, the consumption of those with higher contents of these compounds should be encouraged and promoted.

Estimation of the 5-methyltetrahydrofolate apparent volume of distribution in humans.

The fractional absorption of a stable isotope-labeled folate dose can be estimated from the subsequent short-term temporal changes in the concentration of labeled L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate (L-5-methyl-THF) in plasma using mathematical modeling. However, the model is dependent on the use of an accurate value for the apparent volume of distribution of L-5-methyl-THF. Previous studies that estimated the apparent volume of distribution of L-5-methyl-THF used large (nonphysiological) doses of unlabeled folates that are not found to any great extent in the circulatory system. The current study estimates the apparent volume of distribution at steady state in 16 healthy humans aged 18-65 y after an i.v. dose (440 nmol) of a stable isotope-labeled version of the naturally circulating plasma folate, L-5-methyl-THF. Blood was collected from 2 min to 2 h postinjection and plasma assayed by specific and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem MS. The apparent volume of distribution for L-5-methyl-THF was 32.0 ± 11.6 L (mean ± SD; 392 ± 110 mL/kg bodyweight). There was a positive association with volunteer body weight (r = 0.64; P = 0.010), which allowed a simple linear equation to be developed relating apparent volume of distribution to body weight. This has important implications for predicting apparent absorption of labeled folates in future bioavailability studies.

The Assessment of a Personalized Nutrition Tool (eNutri) in Germany: Pilot Study on Usability Metrics and Users' Experiences.

BACKGROUND: To address the epidemic burden of diet-related diseases, adequate dietary intake assessments are needed to determine the actual nutrition intake of a population. In this context, the eNutri web app has been developed, providing online automated personalized dietary advice, based on nutritional information recorded via an integrated and validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Originally developed for a British population and their dietary habits, the eNutri tool has specifically been adapted to the German population, taking into account national eating habits and dietary recommendations. OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the system usability and users' experience and feedback on the eNutri app in a small-scale preliminary study. The secondary aim is to investigate the efficacy of personalized nutrition (PN) recommendations versus general dietary advice in altering eating habits. METHODS: The app was piloted for 4 weeks by 106 participants from across Germany divided into a PN group and a control group. The groups differed according to the degree of personalization of dietary recommendations obtained. RESULTS: An overall System Usability Scale (SUS) score of 78.4 (SD 12.2) was yielded, indicating an above average user experience. Mean completion time of the FFQ was 26.7 minutes (SD 10.6 minutes). Across subgroups (age, sex, device screen sizes) no differences in SUS or completion time were found, indicating an equal performance for all users independent of the assigned experimental group. Participants' feedback highlighted the need for more personalized dietary advice for controls, while personalized nutritional recommendations improved the awareness of healthy eating behavior. Further improvements to the eNutri app were suggested by the app users. CONCLUSIONS: In total, the eNutri app has proven to be a suitable instrument to capture the dietary habits of a German population sample. Regarding functionality, system usability, and handling, direct user feedback was quite positive. Nutritional advice given was rated ambivalent, pointing to several weaknesses in the eNutri app, minimizing the system's full potential. A higher level of personalization within nutritional advice subjectively improved the app's usability. The insights gained will be used as a basis to further develop and improve this digital diet assessment tool.

Food Composition Data and Tools Online and Their Use in Research and Policy: EuroFIR AISBL Contribution in 2022.

Food, nutrition, and health are linked, and detailed knowledge of nutrient compositions and bioactive characteristics is needed to understand these relationships. Additionally, increasingly these data are required by database systems and applications. This communication aims to describe the contribution to databases and nutrition fields as well as the activities of EuroFIR AISBL; this member-based, non-profit association was founded to ensure sustained advocacy for food information in Europe and facilitate improved data quality, storage, and access as well as encouraging wider exploitation of food composition data for both research and commercial purposes. In addition to the description of its role and main objectives, a snapshot of EuroFIR AISBL's activities over the years is also given using a quantitative research literature analysis approach. The focus of this communication is to provide descriptions and updates of EuroFIR's online tools, i.e., FoodEXplorer, eBASIS, and PlantLIBRA, by highlighting the main uses and applications. Integrating food-related infrastructures and databases, following standardized and harmonized approaches, and considering interoperability and metrological principles are significant challenges. Ongoing activities and future plans of EuroFIR AISBL are highlighted, including, for instance, work within the Food Nutrition Security Cloud (FNS-Cloud) to make food, nutrition, and (food) security data more findable, accessible, interoperable, and ultimately reusable.

Dietary Quality in Vegetarian and Omnivorous Female Students in Germany: A Retrospective Study.

Vegetarian diets have gained in popularity, especially among highly educated women, and are considered beneficial to health. Comparative studies assessing the diet of vegetarians against omnivores are rather limited and often provide ambivalent results. Therefore, this study examined the nutrient intake and nutritional quality of vegetarian and omnivorous diets in a group of 61 female students in Germany. Habitual dietary intake was evaluated using a validated graphical online food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Differences in nutrient intakes were analyzed by Mann-Whitney-U-Tests. Odds Ratios (OR) were calculated for vegetarians exceeding dietary reference values (DRV) compared to omnivores. The overall nutritional quality was assessed using the Healthy-Eating-Index-2015 (HEI-2015). In omnivores, intakes of total energy from saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-n3-PUFA), cholesterol, sucrose, lactose, retinol, and cobalamin were significantly higher than in vegetarians. Significantly lower intakes were observed for fiber, magnesium, and beta-carotene. Significant OR were detected for total fat (OR = 0.29), SFA (OR = 0.04), beta-carotene (OR = 4.55), and cobalamin (OR = 0.32). HEI-2015 scores were higher for vegetarians than for omnivores (79 points versus 74 points) and significant differences were recorded for the HEI-2015 components dairy, seafood & plant proteins, fatty acids, added sugars, and saturated fatty acids.

Comparison of (6 S)-5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid v. folic acid as the reference folate in longer-term human dietary intervention studies assessing the relative bioavailability of natural food folates: comparative changes in folate status following a 16-week placebo-controlled study in healthy adults.

Folic acid (pteroylmonoglutamic acid) has historically been used as the reference folate in human intervention studies assessing the relative bioavailability of dietary folate. Recent studies using labelled folates indicated different plasma response kinetics to folic acid than to natural (food) folates, thus obviously precluding its use in single-dose experiments. Since differences in tissue distribution and site of biotransformation were hypothesised, the question is whether folic acid remains suitable as a reference folate for longer-term intervention studies, where the relative bioavailability of natural (food) folate is assessed based on changes in folate status. Healthy adults aged 18-65 years (n 163) completed a 16-week placebo-controlled intervention study in which the relative bioavailability of increased folate intake (453 nmol/d) from folate-rich foods was assessed by comparing changes in plasma and erythrocyte folate concentration with changes induced by an equal reference dose of supplemental (6S)-5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid or folic acid. The relative increase in plasma folate concentration in the food group was 31 % when compared with that induced by folic acid, but 39 % when compared with (6S)-5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid. The relative increase in erythrocyte folate concentration in the food group when compared with that induced by folic acid was 43 %, and 40 % when compared with (6S)-5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid. When recent published observations were additionally taken into account it was concluded that, in principle, folic acid should not be used as the reference folate when attempting to estimate relative natural (food) folate bioavailability in longer-term human intervention studies. Using (6S)-5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid as the reference folate would avoid future results' validity being questioned.

Extractable and Non-Extractable Antioxidants Composition in the eBASIS Database: A Key Tool for Dietary Assessment in Human Health and Disease Research.

The antioxidant properties of foods are crucial in nutrition, food chemistry, and medicine studies but are often underestimated, with significant amounts of bioactive compounds containing physiological and biochemical properties remaining in the residue from extraction as non-extractable antioxidants. Over the last decade, extractable and non-extractable compounds have become key in the evaluation/determination of the antioxidant properties of food matrices because of their relevance in human health. This has led to the need to include extractable and non-extractable antioxidants in comprehensive and harmonized food composition databases for a wide range of applications within research, food, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and cosmeceutical areas. Additionally, the databases are invaluable as part of the health claims application process. eBASIS, (Bioactive Substances in Food Information System) a comprehensive database containing quality-evaluated scientific data, covering the composition of bioactive compounds present in foods, has flexible structures, allowing it to be extended to include newly emerging data on extractable and non-extractable compounds. Search criteria were developed and defined for compiling suitable peer-reviewed literature. Data quality assessment methods were established for the addition of composition data and antioxidant activity, with a focus on various parameters including: the extraction procedure, the antioxidant measurements, the expression of results. A total of 437 quality-evaluated datapoints on the composition of extractable and/or non-extractable compounds were entered into the database. This database update represents one of the first examples of building a database dedicated to antioxidant properties. This expansion of eBASIS provides a novel and unique tool for nutritionists, dietitians, researchers to use for a wide range of applications, such as dietary assessment, exposure studies and epidemiological studies, and may contribute to an increase in high-bioactive food consumption by consumers.

Peripheral arterial disease and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T mutations: A case-control study and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Hyperhomocysteinaemia is associated with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). There are inter-individual variations in the metabolism of homocysteine because of genetic polymorphisms. This study analyzed the role of one polymorphism that is associated with raised homocysteine, as a risk factor for PAD. METHODS: This study considered the association of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphisms with the incidence of PAD by performing a case-control study and a cross sectional study of homocysteine levels. We recruited 133 patients with PAD in Norfolk and compared the MTHFR allele distribution with 457 healthy individuals. We also carried out a meta-analysis to place our data within the context of other published studies. We searched Medline, Embase, and Cochrane databases up to March 2008 for any studies on the association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and PAD. RESULTS: The MTHFR C677T allele frequencies in the cases and controls were 0.37 and 0.33, and the odds ratios for the association of the 677 T allele or TT genotype with PAD were 1.18 (95% Confidence Interval [CI] 0.89, 1.58) and 1.99 (95% CI 1.09, 3.63). Homozygotes for the MTHFR C677T mutation had higher concentrations of plasma total homocysteine, odds ratio 2.82 (95% CI 1.03, 7.77) compared to homozygotes for the MTHFR 677 CC genotype. Twelve of 72 articles retrieved from the database search reported the prevalence of mutations in PAD patients. A meta-analysis of 9 appropriate studies, including our own, showed that being homozygous for the C677T allele was associated with an increased risk of PAD, pooled odds ratio 1.36 (95% CI 1.09, 1.68). CONCLUSION: We have found a strong association between raised homocysteine, the TT genotype, and PAD.

Food Composition at Present: New Challenges.

Food composition data is important for stakeholders and users active in the areas of food, nutrition and health. New challenges related to the quality of food composition data reflect the dynamic changes in these areas while the emerging technologies create new opportunities. These challenges and the impact on food composition data for the Mediterranean region were reviewed during the NUTRIMAD 2018 congress of the Spanish Society for Community Nutrition. Data harmonization and standardization, data compilation and use, thesauri, food classification and description, and data exchange are some of the areas that require new approaches. Consistency in documentation, linking of information between datasets, food matching and capturing portion size information suggest the need for new automated tools. Research Infrastructures bring together key data and services. The delivery of sustainable networks and Research Infrastructures in food, nutrition and health will help to increase access to and effective use of food composition data. EuroFIR AISBL coordinates experts and national compilers and contributes to worldwide efforts aiming to produce and maintain high quality data and tools. A Mediterranean Network that shares high quality food composition data is vital for the development of ambitious common research and policy initiatives in support of the Mediterranean Diet.

Development of Dietary Supplement Label Database in Italy: Focus of FoodEx2 Coding.

The sector of food supplements is certainly varied and growing: an ever wider offer of new products is launched on the market every year. This is reflected in new reorganization of drug companies and new marketing strategies, in the adoption of new production technologies with resulting changes in dietary supplements regulation. In this context, information on composition reported in labels of selected dietary supplements was collected and updated for the development of a Dietary Supplement Label Database according to products' availability on the Italian market and also including items consumed in the last Italian Dietary Survey. For each item, a code was assigned following the food classification and description system FoodEx2, revision 2. A total of 558 products have been entered into the database at present, trying to give a uniform image and representation of the major classes of food supplements, and 82 descriptors have been compiled. Various suggestions on how the number of FoodEx2 system descriptors could be expanded were noted during the compilation of the database and the coding procedure, which are presented in this article. Limits encountered in compiling the database are represented by the changes in the formulation of products on the market and therefore by the need for a constant database update. The database here presented can be a useful tool in clinical trials, dietary plans, and pharmacological programs.