Looking up how much fibre is in dates, the protein content of quinoa or the amount of caffeine in chocolate is now easier with the release of Food Standards Australia New Zealand's (FSANZ) refreshed nutrient database.
FSANZ Chief Executive Officer Mark Booth said a number of changes had been made to the Australian Food Composition Database (previously called NUTTAB) including an improved web interface and enhanced search to help users find what they're looking for.
"Other changes include introducing custom serve sizes to help users easily calculate the nutrient content based on what they eat (any gram or millilitre amount). Common serve sizes are also provided such as a 375 mL can or 600 mL bottle, in addition to 100 mL," Mr Booth said.
"New data has been included for highly consumed foods such as milk and bread; and new foods added such as rocket, quinoa, oat and rice milk, gluten free flour and pasta, and green tea.
"Identifying foods has been improved by assigning each food a unique code (the Public Food Key) which replaces the previously used Food ID. The Key will be consistent across all of our food composition databases.
"We have also provided a core set of 54 nutrients for all foods, which means that every food in the database will have a value for at least these 54 nutrients. Additional nutrients are also reported where quality data is available.
"If you are a researcher, dietitian, nutritionist or if you want to find out what's in food to help you make healthy food choices, then I encourage you to
