Core foods of the US food supply

The core food dietary intake/exposure model may be used to assess the average intake of nutrients, contaminants and other food components by a population group and various subgroups of the population. The core food model is a mechanism that allows for the selection of the most important foods in a population's food supply so that these foods can be obtained and analysed in the laboratory. The core foods for a population change over time as food consumption patterns are altered by changes in the food supply and/or changes in the demographics of the population. Core foods of the US diet were selected using food consumption data from the 1994-96 US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Continuing Survey of the Food Intake of Individuals (CSFII). The 304 core foods were identified by placing the 5722 foods consumed by survey participants into about 300 groups. The groupings were based on food type, food use and similarity of nutrient composition. The foods within each grouping were ranked in terms of frequency of use and weight of intake, and one food item within each group was selected to become a core food and represent its group. In the model, each core food assumes the full dietary intake (by weight) for all the foods in its group. Daily mean intakes of the 304 selected core foods are presented for women and men of 19-30 years of age. If the food components of interest to investigators using this model are found in selected foods or food types, then only these foods need be analysed. The list of 304 core foods may be shortened by further aggregation to match the needs of different investigators. For example, limited data on food composition may warrant use of a shorter core food list. A shortened food list with average daily intakes of 78 core foods for women and men of 19-30 years of age is provided as an example.