Download "What's in the
Foods You EatSearch Tool."
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"What's in the Foods You Eat" Now on Home
Computers
By Rosalie Marion
Bliss
October 24, 2005 Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists today launched a free,
computer-download version of a searchable nutrient database of typically
consumed foods. This consumer-friendly, new resource, "What's In The Foods You
EatSearch Tool," provides a 61-nutrient profile on thousands of
the foods people report eating, year in and year out.
The ARS Food Surveys Research Group (FSRG)
rolled out the new PC-download product today during the
American Dietetic Association's annual
conference
in St. Louis, Mo. ARS is the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's chief scientific research agency. FSRG is headed by
supervisory nutritionist
Alanna
Moshfegh.
After downloading the search tool, you
can use it without an Internet connection. The search tool serves up a
60-nutrient profile for each of more than 13,000 foods. Above is a sample of
the tool's outputin this instance, for a yogurt smoothie.
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The unique product provides the same food nutrient profiles used to produce
FSRG's recent nationwide dietary interview results, entitled "What We Eat in
America." The data are provided in commonly consumed portion sizes and
weights, and easy-to-use help screens are readily available.
The nutrient profile database made available today is a derivative of the
National
Nutrient Database for Standard Reference 16-1, a product of the ARS
Nutrient
Data Laboratory. Both groups are part of the ARS
Beltsville
(Md.) Human Nutrition Research Center.
FSRG data used in the search tool are also used in USDA's
MyPyramid Trackera highly
interactive, free Internet service that provides a customized nutritional
"audit" to individuals who key in foods eaten daily. The search tool
provides further support to MyPyramid Tracker users who wish to view the
61-nutrient profile for the same individual foods they key in under their
personal profiles. For example, if the tracker shows cholesterol intakes are
too high, the user could then go to the search tool, key in the same foods
entered, and find out which foods need curbing.
The search tool downloads in minutes over a broadband Internet connection.
It will run on computers using the Windows 2000 or XP operating system and
requires about 75 megabytes of available disk space. You can download the
search tool at www.ars.usda.gov/foodsearch/.