Project Number: 1235-52000-051-16
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Aug 22, 2005
End Date: Aug 21, 2010

Objective:
The objective of this cooperative agreement is to obtain reliable and current nutrient data on folate components and on vitamin E components in U.S. foods and dietary supplements. The University of Georgia cooperator is a recognized expert in the analysis of these nutrients and has agreed to cooperate with USDA in determining their content in selected food products and dietary supplements. The food data generated by this agreement will improve and expand the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference that is released on the Nutrient Data Laboratory web site. The supplement data generated by this agreement will be used in the development of an analytically verified dietary supplement database. These nutrients are among the highest ranked nutrients of public health significance and are, in part, the subject of recent publications published by the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Science.

Approach:
The Nutrient Data Laboratory (NDL) is responsible for developing and disseminating authoritative food composition databases for foods in the U.S. diet. As part of the National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program (NFNAP), NDL has identified foods for nutrient analyses. These foods may be Key Foods, that is, those foods that collectively contribute up to 75% of the dietary intake of any one nutrient of public health significance, foods that are important ingredients in other foods and foods that contain nutrients of emerging interest. Foods selected by NDL for analysis by the Cooperator will be those foods that have naturally occurring folate and/or are fortified with added folic acid, foods that contain ingredients that are fortified with added folic acid, and foods that are sources of vitamin E. NDL will develop a sampling plan to assure that each food sampled will be representative of the food supply. Composited samples will be delivered to the Cooperator for nutrient analysis. The Cooperator, on occasion, may be required to pick up local samples for analysis and may receive samples that will need to be composited. The Cooperator will also provide expertise in the area of sample handling, analytical methodology and quality control related to folate and vitamin E. The Cooperator will also receive for analysis samples of dietary supplements that contain added folic acid and vitamin E. These samples may need to be composited.