Project Number: 1235-52000-051-17
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 15, 2005
End Date: Aug 15, 2010

Objective:
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.

Approach:
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.