2007 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416) The objective of this cooperative agreement is to identify and quantify the choline containing components in representative samples of foods. University of North Carolina cooperators, with nationally recognized expertise in this area of research, have agreed to cooperate with the USDA in investigating the choline content of foods and dietary supplements. These data will improve and expand USDA Nutrient Databases such as the Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, which is released on the Nutrient Data Laboratory website, and the Nutrient Database for Food Consumption Surveys. 1b.Approach (from AD-416) The Nutrient Data Laboratory (NDL) is responsible for developing and disseminating authoritative food composition databases of foods in the U.S. diet. NDL has developed a Key Food Approach to help establish priorities for foods to be analyzed. Key Foods are those identified as contributing up to 75% of any one nutrient of public health significance. Key Foods form the core of foods to be analyzed, supplemented by other foods deemed of particular interest due to their frequent use as ingredients or content of nutrients of emerging interest. Sampling plans will be developed for each type of food sampled, to assure a representative sampling of the food supply. Samples of food will be delivered to the Cooperator for analysis. In some cases the Cooperator may need to develop food matrix specific methods for handling and analyzing samples and preparing aliquots for shipment to other researchers for analysis of additional food components. The Cooperator will also offer expertise in interpretation of results of the choline components analyses. 3.Progress Report This report documents research conducted under a Specific Cooperative Agreement between ARS and the University of North Carolina. Additional details of research can be found in the report for the in-house associated project 1235-52000-051-00D, "Development of Accurate and Representative Food Composition Data for the U.S. Food Supply." Choline is needed for normal cell function, assists in the metabolism of fat and cholesterol, and prevents fat accumulation in the liver. Betaine, a derivative of choline, is important for its role in the donation of methyl groups used in the conversion of homocysteine to methionine. When the U.S. Institute of Medicine made dietary recommendations for choline intake, they indicated a high priority need for data on choline intake in the U.S. population. The development and release of the first choline database provides researchers and consumers with the means to estimate choline intake. A Special Interest Table for 435 foods (USDA Database for the Choline Content of Common Foods – 2004) was released on the Nutrient Data Laboratory (NDL) Website (www.ars.usda.gov/nutrientdata) in 2004; a new expanded version of this table (640 food items) will be released in the early fall, 2007. During 2007, total choline values for ~580 analyzed foods were incorporated into the National Nutrient Database and expanded through imputation to provide choline values for >3200 foods. These data will be released in the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 20, which provides the nutrient information used in the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Surveys. Cooking yields and nutrient retention factors were also derived for 290 foods from a wide variety of food types and will be released as a special table (USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors, Release. 6)on the NDL Website in the fall of 2007. Information on choline retention after cooking and on the choline content of baby foods was presented at the annual meeting for Experimental Biology in 2007. Data from this project has been used by the research community in epidemiological studies and to evaluate choline and betaine intake in the etiology of neural tube defects. Project progress and goals were monitored through weekly or monthly phone communication and emails with both the analytical chemist and the primary investigator at the cooperating laboratory.