[Calibration tools menu and calculation of the composition nutritional food; validity and variability]

Area of Science:

• Nutritional Sciences
• Food Science
• Computational Nutrition

Context:

• Food composition tables (FCTs) are fundamental for assessing dietary energy and nutrient content.
• Accurate FCT data is crucial for nutrition professionals, public health, and dietary research.
• Software utilizing FCT databases is widely employed for menu planning and nutritional analysis.

Purpose:

• To evaluate and demonstrate the variability in nutritional data across different FCTs and nutrition analysis software.
• To assess the impact of data discrepancies on the scientific validity of commonly used dietary assessment tools.

Summary:

• A model menu was analyzed using Alimentador software and validated against multiple FCTs (RedBEDCA, CESNID, Mataix, Moreiras) and other software (DIAL, EasyDiet).
• Significant data gaps were found, preventing comparison for many nutrients.
• The range of comparable data varied widely (8%-84%), with greater discrepancies observed for micronutrients compared to macronutrients and energy.

Impact:

• The study highlights considerable variability between FCTs and nutrition software, questioning their reliability.
• Findings suggest a need for standardization and validation of FCT databases and software used in nutrition practice.
• This variability may affect the accuracy of dietary assessments, potentially impacting nutritional recommendations and health outcomes.