The impact of revising fats and oils data in the US Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies

Major changes occurred in the fats and oils data for foods in the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (SR), Releases 17, 18, and 20. New items were added and values for existing items updated. These data were incorporated into the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS), Releases 2.0 and 3.0 through cooperation between the Food Surveys Research Group (FSRG), where the FNDDS is prepared for the analysis of What We Eat in America (WWEIA), the dietary interview component of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), and the Nutrient Data Laboratory (NDL), where SR is produced and which serves as the basis for the nutrient values in FNDDS. The task of updating the FNDDS requires synergistic efforts by specialists at both NDL and FSRG as well as extensive communication with industry. To determine the changes needed in FNDDS, recipes and ingredient lists were reviewed for the types of fats/oils used for several food categories. The types of fats/oils in commercially prepared foods such as crackers and in home/restaurant-prepared food such as fried fish were updated based on product formulation changes, availability of data in SR, and review of information from industry and the WWEIA, NHANES. Also, updated nutrient values from SR for existing fats/oils were incorporated into the FNDDS. Using national data from the WWEIA, NHANES 2001–2004, the impact of these changes on daily intake estimates of energy, total fat and fatty acids was determined. These changes resulted in minor but statistically significant (p < 0.001) differences in mean intakes for the majority of the nutrients.