| dc.description.abstract |
Quality of food composition information is of great significance considering the vast
and important use of the data: for national dietary advice, for food nutrient labelling,
and in epidemiological research. In order to have good quality data for foods consumed
in the Nordic countries, sampling and analysis of food needs to be performed to
determine the nutrient composition of interest.
The Nordic Food Analysis Network project (NFAN), that was carried out between
2013–2016, focused on creating a common, simple communicational platform to share
history and plans on chemical food analyses. In addition, it focused on sharing
developments in the areas of new analytical methods, especially of dietary fibre, iodine
and sodium (i.e. salt).
An extranet site was set up, where partners updated their chemical food analysis
activities, for others to observe and be aware of. The platform was found to be
informative, although updating it was sometimes found to be cumbersome or
forgotten. This kind of activity needs active coordination to become useful.
Also, comparative analyses of fibre, iodine and sodium concentrations of selected
Nordic foods were carried out with external funds and the results were shared,
discussed and disseminated among the project group and a broader audience. The
comparative analyses showed diverging results, even when the same analytical
methods and procedures are used. A comparison, organized by the network, of the
conditions in the different countries, showed several reasons for this. The main reasons
for different nutrient compositions between the countries was found to be differences
in fortification programmes and in animal feeding practices between the countries.
The NFAN network organized three physical meetings and one open satellite
symposium during the project, which served as platforms to update the partners on
national developments in the field and discuss future visions – even wild ideas. The
meetings were highly appreciated, partly due to the fact that the critical mass of
competence, both for food composition data compilers and food chemists at the
national level, in all Nordic countries, is declining. The discussions not only focused on
the tasks of this project, but also served as a forum to discuss the broader challenges in
the area as well as strategies to better disseminate food data and how to improve the
dialogue between data providers from the food industry, and the data users and other
stakeholders.
For future actions, the Network has recommended that:
1) The Nordic countries should continue to keep each other informed about
chemical food analysis plans to facilitate possible common analyses and to
facilitate other synergistic activities and method development. Moreover, there is
a continuous need for a well-structured and simple-to-use communicational
platform in the future, where all the information is stored and updated.
2) New chemical analysis data should be compiled in the food composition
databases and be more widely used in the future.
3) The background information on the analysed nutrient values, e.g. the sampling
procedures, methods, sample description (e.g. fortification practices, animal
feeding practices in the country) are crucial for the data users, and therefore,
should be disseminated together with the values.
4) A common Nordic training programme for young actors in the fields of chemical
food analysis and food composition data compilation should be considered, to
assure high quality outputs, in the future.
5) Harmonization efforts for the production of food composition information,
according to established guidelines (e.g. Greenfield & Southgate, 2003) and
updated rules to calculate the activity of nutrients (Institute of Medicine 2000,
Nordic Council of Ministers 2012), should be continued.
6) Re-evaluation of the rules and procedures for use of existing food composition
data should be carried out. This could be done by performing an updated
evaluation on the handling of the nutrient values, i.e. to carry out an update of the
former Norfoods 2000 project (Norfoods 2000-project group, 2002). |
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