Disaggregating composite food codes in the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey food composition databank

To disaggregate composite food codes used in the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) into their individual food components in order to provide a more complete estimate of intake at the individual food level.

A total of 3216 composite food codes from the NDNS food composition databank were subject to disaggregation. The main food components used were meat, fish, fruit, vegetables and cheese, which were further divided into 26 subcategories.

It was shown that previous determination of meat containing composite food codes provided an overestimate of meat intake and underestimate of additional components such as fruit and vegetables.

By incorporating disaggregated data into NDNS, variations will be seen in consumption of some main food groups, but these variations may be also attributable to trends in consumption.