Development and Relative Validity of a Semiquantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire to Estimate Dietary Intake among a Multi-Ethnic Population in the Malaysian Cohort Project.

Measuring dietary intakes in a multi-ethnic and multicultural setting, such as Malaysia, remains a challenge due to its diversity. This study aims to develop and evaluate the relative validity of an interviewer-administered food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in assessing the habitual dietary exposure of The Malaysian Cohort (TMC) participants. We developed a nutrient database (with 203 items) based on various food consumption tables, and 803 participants were involved in this study. The output of the FFQ was then validated against three-day 24-h dietary recalls (n = 64). We assessed the relative validity and its agreement using various methods, such as Spearman's correlation, weighed Kappa, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and Bland-Altman analysis. Spearman's correlation coefficient ranged from 0.24 (vitamin C) to 0.46 (carbohydrate), and almost all nutrients had correlation coefficients above 0.3, except for vitamin C and sodium. Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from -0.01 (calcium) to 0.59 (carbohydrates), and weighted Kappa exceeded 0.4 for 50% of nutrients. In short, TMC's FFQ appears to have good relative validity for the assessment of nutrient intake among its participants, as compared to the three-day 24-h dietary recalls. However, estimates for iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C should be interpreted with caution.

Sodium content in sauces-a major contributor of sodium intake in Malaysia: a cross-sectional survey.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the sodium content in sauces sold in Malaysian supermarkets. METHODS: A cross-sectional market survey was conducted in 2017 of 233 sauces sold in Malaysian supermarkets. Information on the sodium content was collected from the product packaging and nutrient information panels of the sauces sold in the seven top supermarkets in the capital of Malaysia. RESULTS: Of the 233 sauces surveyed, 116 did not include sodium content information on the nutrient information panel (49.8%). Soy sauce (particularly sweet soy sauce) and ketchup (particularly chilli sauce) were found to be the highest number of products surveyed in the analysis (N=54 and N=48, respectively). The highest sodium content information was displayed by fish/prawn sauce (budu/cencalok) (5192±3228 mg/100 g) which was followed by the light/thin soy sauce (5116±2084 mg/100 g), and followed by salty soy sauce (4780±988 mg/100 g). The sodium content information of the imported sauces was higher compared with local products produced in Malaysia. However, for sweet soy sauce, the sodium content information of the local products was higher compared with the imported products. Of the 116 sauces which displayed information regarding their sodium content, only 18.2% of the salty soy sauce and 25% of the light/thin soy sauce were found to be below the 2017 Malaysian sodium guidelines. Furthermore, only 21.7% of chilli ketchup and no tomato ketchup were below the 2017 UK salt guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: Almost half of the sauces surveyed did not include sodium content information on the nutrient information panel. It is recommended that sodium content information is provided on all sauces sold in Malaysia. Also, manufacturers should be urged to reduce the sodium content level of their sauces to a minimum of 5%.