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Canadian Nutrient File

Compilation of Canadian Food Composition Data

Users' Guide

2010

Nutrition Research Division
Food Directorate
Health Products and Food Branch
Health Canada

Help on accessing alternative formats, such as Portable Document Format (PDF), Microsoft Word and PowerPoint (PPT) files, can be obtained in the alternate format help section.

(PDF Version - 392 K)

Table of Content

• Introduction
• Limitations
• New for this Edition
• Highlight Features
• Information on Nutrients
• Descriptions of File Contents
• Appendix
  • Table 1 - Metric System Equivalents for Units of Measure
  • Table 2 - List of Abbreviations
  • Table 3 - List of Definitions
  • Table 4 - List of Measures Added Since 2007b
  • Table 5 - Nutrient Trace and Significant Digits
  • Table 6 - List of Fatty Acids Contributing to the Different Totals
• References
• Food Source Summary
• Nutrient Source Summary
• Nutrient Code Listing
• Licence Agreement

Introduction

The Canadian Nutrient File (CNF) is a computerized, bilingual food composition database containing average values for nutrients in foods available in Canada. Much of the data in the CNF have been derived from the comprehensive United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, up to and including Standard Release 22¹. Foods included in the USDA database that are known not to be on the Canadian market are excluded. Modification for Canadian levels of fortification and regulatory standards², along with addition of Canadian only foods or Canadian commodity data, as well as where appropriate, some brand name foods, forms this standard Canadian resource.

This manual is a technical document meant to guide clients using the CNF as to appropriate uses of the data, technical definitions of the nutrients, background on the sources and quality of the data as well as changes specific to this edition, 2010.

Some of the features discussed in this document are not available in the online version (i.e. food group codes, USDA source codes, etc.) and are only available through downloading the full version files.

Limitations

It is essential that potential users of the CNF recognize its strengths and limitations. The database is maintained and updated on an ongoing basis. USDA releases, relevant scientific literature, industry data, and current analyses from Canadian government, university and research laboratories, are gathered and examined to meet inclusion criteria. Imputations are added when determined to be valid. Thus, average amounts of nutrients in foods available in Canada are supplied. The exact nutrient composition of a specific apple or cookie is not found on the CNF. These averages, except where indicated otherwise, take into account sources of a given food across Canada. Local foods may have a different profile than the national average.

Every food item may not contain a complete nutrient data set. Where data is unavailable for a particular nutrient it is a missing value and not a true zero. Software developers and others personalizing the database must learn to understand and account for the missing values.

The CNF is particularly suited for assessment of diets, recipe development, menu planning when ingredients or menu items are not specific and for population nutrition surveillance activities, where nutrient intake distributions are used to conduct risk assessments such as modeling for fortification proposals. It is also useful in the initial stages of product development to ensure that nutritional targets can be met. Use of generic information from reference databases for calculating nutrient values for labelling purposes is generally not recommended since a close match to the product formulation or specific ingredients and processes can not be assured.

Most users are looking for an average or mean value for a generic representation of the foods as described. These generic values have been derived from combining brands of similar products, for example all major brands of ketchup; various varieties of oranges or similar beef cuts from various producers. These data may also be developed by a commodity association utilizing sample units from different producers, to provide a hypothetical, generic product that is represented by a single nutrient profile. Those individuals seeking brand specific nutrient data are encouraged to look for the Nutrition Facts Table found on all pre-packaged foods sold in Canada.

Analytical values represent the total amount of the nutrient present in the edible portion of the food, including any nutrients added in processing. The values do not necessarily represent the nutrient amounts available to the body which may be influenced by nutrient interactions, physiological mechanisms, nutritional status and other factors where not enough information is available.

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New for this Edition

This is the twelfth edition of the Canadian Nutrient File and contains data on 5807 food items for up to 150 food components. Since the April 2007b release the following modifications have been made to the database.

1. Canadian Sampling and Nutrient Analysis Program (SNAP-CAN)

Occasional collaborations with various sectors of the Canadian food commodities industry and limited research from government and outside laboratories have been the only source of Canadian analytical nutrient profile data in the past.

Lack of funding dedicated to generation of nutrient profiles on Canadian sample sets resulted in an inability to set our own priorities for updating/improving the CNF.

Increasingly, stakeholders expressed dissatisfaction with the traditional approach, as compositional data is often crucial to Food Directorate nutrition policy decisions:

i.e., micronutrient addition policy formulation
submission for addition of DHA to milk
regulations for sodium reduction
development of new definitions for whole wheat flour

Under the aim to address this data need, in 2007 the Sampling and Nutrient Analysis Program of Canadian foods was initiated. Under this program, priority foods are chosen, sample designs are implemented and the samples are analyzed for a comprehensive set of nutrients by Health Canada regional laboratories. Scarce resources for the time being, limit us to only considering the very highest priority foods for this program. These are chosen based on:

• the amounts consumed by Canadians; staple foods are high priorities
• strong evidence that the Canadian product is very different from the US
• recently reformulation due to market forces
• complete lack of data for foods often cited in national nutrition surveys.
• a final consideration is the degree to which a cost saving collaboration with a food industry sector will benefit the CNF. This usually involves the industry partner financing all of the aspects of sampling (collection, transport, storage, processing etc.), while Health Canada is responsible for analyzing these samples for a comprehensive set of nutrients.

During 2008 and 2009, we were able to complete the sample design, collection, processing and analyses of 5 types of flour and 12 categories of granola bars. These data are incorporated into the 2010 release of the CNF.

In 2009 we took advantage of an opportunity to collaborate with the Turkey Farmers of Canada to generate profiles for 5 cuts (breast, back, wing, drumstick, thigh) for each of 3 age/sex market weight categories (broiler, tom and hen) of turkey available on the Canadian market.

2. Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide

Portion size measures which relate Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating (CFGHE)³ food grouping principles to each of the CNF foods were added to the 2005 version of the database. Some of these assignments are in the process of being updated to reflect revisions recently published under the new title Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide (CFG).⁴ Therefore, for the present we are not publishing these assignments in the 2010 version of the CNF.

Interested parties are encouraged to go to the website of the Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion at Health Canada. They have developed a new website where all of the information regarding the Food Guide can be located.

3. Important Nutrient Code Change

4. USDA Changes incorporated:

Changes include those adopted by USDA¹ since SR19 (SR 20, 21, 22) which were appropriate for addition of foods and/or nutrients as data became available. Prominent changes within the USDA updates include:

Nutrients

• Added nutrient values for
  Choline 862
  Betaine 863
  Campesterol 866
• Expanded values for Vitamin D in µg for many foods (nutrient code 328)
• Nutrient values were updated for many foods. These updated values can be found in the Nutrient Amount file and the Change Nutrient file.
• Some nutrient profiles were expanded to include a more comprehensive dataset. These new values can be found in the Nutrient Amount file and the Added Nutrients file.
• Nutrient data were updated for cottage cheese, canned blueberries, sour cherries, canned blue crab, farmed Atlantic salmon, commercial pecan pie, pumpkin pie, cream-filled snack cakes, snack crackers, saltines, chocolate sandwich cookies, chocolate chip cookies, pie crust, beef pot pies, chicken pot pies, and several snack items. These can be found in the Nutrient Amount file and the Change Nutrient file.

Added food groups

• USDA added a new food group, Group 36, Restaurant Foods. However, we have elected not to include this food group as most of the featured restaurants are not found in Canada and there can be significant supplier differences between the two countries. We have added some foods from the Restaurant Foods group and have added them to other groups.
• USDA has also added a new group, Group 35 featuring the American Indian and Alaska Native foods. However, again we are not creating a new group for these foods. Instead, traditional native foods appear in the appropriate food group i.e., Caribou in the game meat group, with the descriptor, "Native" in the foodname to help users search for these foods.

Added Foods

• A number of the new foods have been added to the CNF: 5 less common grains, raw and cooked; new chicken products (nuggets, tenders, patties); 4 types of dark chocolate representing different cacao levels, reduced calories honey mustard dressing, several types of pie crust, frozen turkey dinner, pomegranate juice, vegetarian refried beans, several rotisserie chicken items; 5 Stellar sea lion items, gold kiwi; energy drinks and some restaurant foods.

5. Data from Canadian sources

Foods

• From the SNAP-CAN program described on page 5 we were able to generate nutrient profiles for 5 types of flour sold at retail; all-purpose bleached white flour, all-purpose unbleached white flour, cake and pastry flour, bread flour and whole-wheat flour. Also, data for 12 categories of granola bars sold in Canada are now included in the CNF. These replace the old granola bar foods which reflected a market very different than our own. Also, the new data demonstrate the effect of recent reformulation of these products in efforts to lower or eliminate the trans fat content.
• Also, in 2009 we took advantage of an opportunity to collaborate with the Turkey Farmers of Canada to generate profiles for 5 cuts (breast, back, wing, drumstick, thigh) for each of 3 age/sex market weight categories (broiler, tom and hen) of turkey available on the Canadian market. Whole turkeys in each of these categories are calculated from the parts. Both raw and cooked, meat only and meat plus skin are included.
• The Canadian Sheep Federation have generated and submitted comprehensive nutrient profiles for popular cuts of lamb raised in Canada. Profiles are now included for Canadian lamb foreshank, whole leg, loin, rib and shoulder as lean only and lean + 3mm fat trim.
• The nutrient data for brand name breakfast cereals have been updated. Data were solicited from the manufacturers representing some major retails brands sold in Canada. Some new cereals have entered the market and are now included, while those which are discontinued have been deleted from the CNF.
• As some yogourts are now made from milk fortified with Vitamins A and D, two new yogourt foods have been created to reflect this difference.

Food Groups

• Group 3, Babyfoods, has been eliminated from this version of the database. The data are not current and attempts to secure updates of comprehensive profiles from industry were unsuccessful.

Recipes

• Profile for many popular mixed dishes were calculated from their ingredients using sophisticated internal recipe formulation software and added to the CNF. More than one hundred recipes have been added to the CNF : Greek salad, meat lasagna, poutine, sushi with and without fish, egg Benedict, sugar pie, etc.
  • 1 - Dairy and Egg Products,
  • 6 - Soups, Sauces and Gravies,
  • 14 - Beverages,
  • 15 - Finfish and Shellfish Products,
  • 19 - Sweets,
  • 18 - Bakery Products,
  • 21 - Fast Foods,
  • 22 - Mixed Dishes.

Nutrients

• Two new fatty acid totals have been created. In consultation with a Health Canada lipid expert, we have imputed many missing values. As a result, total omega 3 (nutrient code 902) and total omega 6 (nutrient code 903) are now available for selected food groups.
• The nutrient code for Vitamin D in micrograms has changed from 339 to 328

6. Measure Descriptions

New measure descriptions have been added to the database. Please refer to table 4 in the Appendix.

7. Structure

• Once again for the 2010 version we are offering update files which track records that have been changed, added or deleted since the release of the 2007b version of the CNF. These update files are available for the added, changed, or deleted foods, nutrient names, nutrient values, and conversion factors. The structure of the database (tables and fields) remains very similar to that of CNF 2007b except for a change that results in the field listing the food codes is no longer the primary field used to join the tables.
• For further details of the database tables and fields, update files and the food code field change please see the Database Structure Guide in the section "Download files".
• For this edition we are offering the downloadable files in CSV format in addition to DBF and TXT. This will be of benefit to a number of clients using Mac computer systems.

8. Interactive Website

The interactive website has 2 new features:

• The Search by Nutrient function now includes the option to search the entire database rather than just by one food group at a time.
• The Search by Food function has been improved. Keywords will be matched in any order against any part of food descriptions. If more than one keyword is used, they may be separated by a space or any of the operators 'or' or 'not'. The operator, "and" is no longer required. In all cases, keywords are searched both as whole words and partial words, which means that a singular keyword will also find the corresponding plural forms, and prefixed forms. Examples: a) 'fish' will also find 'Crayfish', b) 'apple raw' (or 'apple and raw') will find all the foods having both keywords anywhere in their description, but also: 'Pineapple, raw', c) 'apple or raw' will find any food having either or both keywords anywhere in the description, while 'apple not raw' will find all instances of 'apple' except where 'raw' is also present anywhere in the description.
• The Search Guide is available in which one can locate more detailed instructions on how to use features of the Online Program.

Highlight Features

1. The CNF is a food composition database featuring bilingual (French and English) foodnames, measure descriptions and background information. The measures follow the metric system. Only foods available on the market in Canada are included, usually as generic representative composites, except where each brand is considered unique such as breakfast cereals, margarines and baby foods. Also, in response to the fast pace of change in the food marketplace today, we are including some brand name data of bakery products and snacks submitted by the food manufacturers.
2. Each food and each nutrient record carry a date of entry field which can be extremely important in assessing how current and relevant the data are for a specific application. Also this feature can be helpful in tracking changes.
3. While we are still offering the downloadable files (without software) for those who prefer all of the metadata or wanting to update their existing programs, beginning in April 2005 we also introduced a new interactive online searchable program from which clients can view, print or export reports of nutrient profiles per reasonable serving sizes.
4. Trace field
   When a nutrient is known not to be zero but estimated (by recipe analysis or by reference to international databases) to be present in very small amount, a field separate from the nutrient value field indicates a trace amount. In the past, these would have remained as missing values and the user had no indication of significance. Now, when a nutrient level is trace, the user can evaluate significance to their study based on the frequency of consumption of that food or other factors.
   Trace amounts are different for every nutrient. Please refer to Table 5 in the Appendix for trace nutrient levels.{-X~0~X-}
5. Nutrient Value of Some Common Foods (2008)⁵
   The Nutrient Value of Some Common Foods (NVSCF) booklet provides Canadians with a resource that lists 19 nutrients for 1000 of the most commonly consumed foods in Canada. Selected nutrient values are extracted from the CNF and recalculated in terms of a reasonable serving size of the foods in the ready-to-eat form of the food. This printed, portable version is very popular with students, health professionals, and those who don't have ready access to the Internet.
   
   This new version now emphasizes mixed dishes rather than just individual ingredients. Use this quick and easy reference to help make informed food choices through an understanding of the nutrient content of the foods you eat.
   
   This updated version is now free of charge. Printed copies to order are sometimes limited, but those interested can easily print out a copy of our pdf version.
6. Tagnames
   International Network of Food Data Systems (INFOODS), Tagnames. A unique abbreviation for a food component developed by INFOODS to aid in the interchange of data. Only the tagnames as codes are included in the Nutrient Name file (formerly in the Nutrient Amount file). For a written description of these tagnames please see the INFOODS website⁶.
7. Country Code
   A field called Country Code can be found in the foodname file. Originally designed to reference the origin of a food profile from any country, at the moment, full profiles, or near full profiles, are only borrowed from USDA so this is now a quick reference to the USDA NDB code for that food.
8. Contact email for questions and Listserv for announcements
   If you have any questions or concerns regarding the CNF database, please send them along to our email address at cnfusers@hc-sc.gc.ca.
   If you would like to be added to our listserve for announcements of upcoming changes to the CNF, please send us an email to the address above stating that you would like to join and we will add your email address to the list.

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Information on Nutrients

For the most part nutrients were determined by AOAC methods⁷ or by methods approved by Health Canada nutrition research scientists. Documentation accompanying each standard release of the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference¹ outlines methodologies employed for each nutrient in detail.

a) Proximate components include moisture (water), protein, total lipid (fat), carbohydrate and ash. Addition of these 5 components should approach 100. Carbohydrate, when present, is determined as the difference between 100 and the sum of the remaining proximate components (and alcohol when present). The determination of Total carbohydrate values by this method of calculation includes total dietary fibre. Care should be exercised when making comparisons with some other food composition databases worldwide as many countries employ a different approach to the assessment of the carbohydrate content. Please note that adding total sugar and total dietary fibre does not usually equal carbohydrate; this is because there can be many other fractions of carbohydrate for which we do not have values, such as oligosaccharides, polydextrins, and starch to name a few. Carbohydrate values are assumed zero in animal products (nutrient source code 12).

b) Protein values are calculated from the level of measured total nitrogen in the food, using the conversion factors recommended by Jones (1941)⁸. Protein values for soy products, chocolate, cocoa products, coffee, mushrooms and yeast are adjusted for non-nitrogenous material. The adjusted protein conversion factors used to calculate protein for these items are as follows:
Soy products 5.71
Chocolate and cocoa 4.74
Coffee 5.3
Mushrooms 4.38
Yeast 5.7
White flours 5.7
Whole wheat flour 5.83

Amino acids are analyzed by a different method of analysis than total protein. Therefore, the sum of amino acids will be close to but not identical to the total protein.

c) Total lipid or crude fat usually includes both the triglyceride, energy yielding fraction and other lipid components such as glycerol, sterols and phospholipids and are determined by gravimetric methods. This is unlike the triglyceride fat or 'triglyceride equivalent' required on the Nutrition Facts table which accounts only for the energy yielding fatty acid as triglyceride component. However, in the rare cases where we accept data from industry which has been generated for labelling, the total fat will be in triglyceride equivalents. The data is identified as coming from industry.

Fatty acids are analyzed by a different method of analysis than total fat. Therefore, the sum of fatty acids will be close to but not identical to the total fat.

d) Food Energy is expressed in both kilocalories (kcal) and kilojoules (kJ). One kcal equals 4.184 kJ. Calorie values are based on the Atwater system for determining energy values; as the specific Atwater factors (specific to described food types) are used, for most foods the calorie value will differ from that calculated by the general 4/9/4 factors for protein/fat/carbohydrate. Details for the derivation of the Atwater calorie factors are outlined in Agriculture Handbook No. 74⁹.

e) Total Dietary Fibre (TDF) is made of complex and heterogeneous polymeric materials that are not easy to separate from other food components particularly starch. Methods for dietary fibre have evolved remarkably over the past decade and at the moment there are 3 different AOAC approved methods for measuring TDF. TDF values originating from USDA data are analysed by AOAC⁷ methods 985.29 (Prosky) and 991.43 (Lee). Values originating from Canadian government laboratories (nutrient source code 3) were analysed using AOAC method 992.16 (Mongeau). TDF is assumed zero in many foods after review of literature and/or consultation with scientific experts (nutrient source code 12).

f) Minerals. Minerals included in the database are calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese and selenium. Levels of minerals for most foods are determined by the methods of AOAC (2003) usually by atomic absorption (AOAC 985.35) or inductively coupled plasma emission spectrophotometry (AOAC 984.27) or for the SNAP-CAN foods by ICP/MS which is based on EPA 3051¹⁰

g) Vitamin A

The primary unit of biologic activity for Vitamin A is called all-trans retinol. Carotenoids are a group of plant pigments that are provitamin or precursors to Vitamin A. The body cannot use these inactive forms until they are converted to the active form, retinol. Total Vitamin A activity of a food then is expressed as a sum of its retinol and carotenoid content after conversion. Unfortunately, more than one method of expressing this total activity has been developed and no single method has been universally adopted. Also, the National Academy of Sciences¹¹, in 2000, determined that the contribution from carotenoids is roughly half of that thought previously, resulting in the new unit, Retinol Activity Equivalents.

Nutrition labels in the United States use International Units or IU. We do not use these units in Canada.

Vitamin A on the Canadian Nutrition Facts table is expressed in Retinol Equivalents, RE

1 RE = 1 mcg retinol + mcg ?beta-carotene/6 + mcg other carotenoids/12

The new Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI)¹¹ recommendations have now suggested Vitamin A should be expressed in terms of Retinol Activity Equivalents or RAE

1 RAE = 1 mcg retinol + mcg beta?-carotene/12 + mcg other carotenoids/24

It is not advisable to convert between RE's and IU's in a food containing both retinol and carotenoids as one doesn't have information on the proportions of each. Calculating any of these activity standards is best done by starting with the amounts, in mcg, of each fraction contributing to activity.

The CNF lists values of Vitamin A activity in terms of RAE, retinol in micrograms, and Beta-carotene in micrograms.

h) Other Carotenoids. Data compiled by USDA for 4 additional classes of carotenoids are also available in the CNF:

alpha-carotene
lycopene
beta-cryptoxanthin
lutein & zeaxanthin (combined)

These carotenoids have a much lower contribution to Vitamin A activity, but act as antioxidants which may have roles in reducing risks of cancer and other diseases.

i) Vitamin D is expressed in units of mcg or IU's

40 IU Vitamin D = 1 mcg

Recent studies have suggested a relation between Vitamin D status and health outcomes among even apparently healthy Canadians¹². Therefore, CNF staff has an objective to provide as comprehensive a dataset as possible of Vitamin D values, which would better support nutrition research studies on this topic. Thus we have added some Vitamin D data resulting from a limited analytical study in Canada¹³ for Vitamin D in fish, pork, and certain dairy products. Data from this study do include the contribution from the metabolite of Vitamin D, 25-hydroxy cholecalciferol. In addition, for SR22 USDA has generated data for Vitamin D in many foods and we have included them where appropriate for this edition. The method for the USDA values involved extraction with solvent(s), cleanup steps and quantification by HPLC or LC/MS.

Critical examination of the high percentage of formerly "missing values" of Vitamin D was undertaken. Some which were known by scientific deduction to be zero i.e., all plant foods except mushrooms) are now assigned assumed zero status, some values were borrowed from international databases, and some were estimated by recipe calculation to be below international standards for trace amounts. One can always deduce the source of the data by consulting the field entitled Nutrient Source Code.

Cholcalciferol or vitamin D3 is the form naturally occurring in animal products and the form most commonly added to fortified foods. Ergocalciferol, or vitamin D2, is the form found in some plants and is sometimes added to fortified foods, such as soy beverages. The database only reports the sum of D3 and D2.

j) Vitamin E
There are a number of isomers of Vitamin E. In the past a calculation of Vitamin E equivalents, which took into account activities of various isomers, was most commonly used. However, the National Academy of Sciences¹¹ has now determined that the only isomer of significant activity is the RRR-alpha?-tocopherol expressed in mg. As such the only expression of Vitamin E activity now in the CNF is alpha?-tocopherol in mg. For the time being, there are no foods to which micronutrient addition regulations allow the addition of synthetic Vitamin E (except meal replacements which are not found on the CNF).

k) Niacin is expressed both in terms of mg of preformed niacinamide present in the food as well as niacin equivalents (NE) which includes that which can be formed from tryptophan. There are 2 methods of calculating niacin equivalents (code 409):

If preformed niacin, mg and tryptophan, g were present in the database then:

(tryptophan x 1000/60) + preformed niacin = NE

If a tryptophan value was not available, it was imputed to be 1.1% of total protein and:

(0.011 x protein) x 1000/60 + preformed niacin = NE

USDA reports that niacin values are determined by microbiological methods. For the SNAP-CAN foods determination is by an adaptation of an LC-isotope dilution MS method¹⁴.

l) Folate, Folic acid, Total Folacin
There are two chemical forms now in foods which contribute to folate bioactivity:

• Naturally occurring or food folate
• Added synthetic form, folic acid.

The folic acid form is more active than the food folate form. As a result one finds in sources of nutrient data:

• Folic acid in mcg
• Food folate or naturally occurring folate in mcg
• The arithmetic sum of the two (not accounting for activity) sometimes referred to as total folacin or simply as Folate in mcg. This is the unit to be used on the Canadian Nutrition Facts Table.
• Dietary Folate Equivalents
  1 DFE = (mcg folic acid x 1.7) + mcg food folate
  The DFE is now the most common unit of expression when referring to recent population nutrition studies.

These data assume that the additions of folic acid are as outlined in the regulations². In practice overages are common. Where a range is allowed, calculated values are based on the midpoint.

For cornmeal, pasta and rice, addition is optional, but some realities in the marketplace allow us to make generalizations. There are very few manufacturers of cornmeal and they do not want to produce both fortified and unfortified batches.

Most pasta is fortified in Canada. There are some imported brands which are not fortified and there is a separate listing for these in the database. However, when it is an ingredient in the manufacture of another food we are assuming it is fortified. In practice up to this point, most types of rice are not fortified; only precooked rice is commonly fortified. Values for cooked pasta were calculated based on the moisture difference between cooked and dry. There are no standard retention factors for folic acid upon cooking/processing.

Recently generated data would use the trienzyme microbiological procedure¹⁵ which measure the total folate including folic acid in enriched foods. Folic acid is measured either by the microbiological method without enzymes or by LC-MS/MS¹⁶. Food folate is then calculated by difference. For unenriched foods food folate would be equivalent to total folacin since folic acid does not occur naturally in foods.

m) Other Vitamins. Methods and reporting for Vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, pantothentic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, total choline and betaine, as well as Vitamin K, are identical to those detailed in the USDA Release 22 documentation¹.

n) Fatty acids
Nomenclature
Fatty acids are referred to by a variety of nomenclature systems, many of which date back prior to common knowledge of specific and geometric isomers. For unsaturated fatty acids, the trivial and systematic names reflect the most common isomer, although all isomers are included in the value. The most specific descriptor of the isomers is that indicated through the use of a shorthand system of numbers and letters. The first number in the nutrient description (before the colon) is the number of carbon atoms and the second (after the colon) is the number of double bonds in the chain. The letter c, t or i indicates whether or not the bond is cis or trans. The i indicates that this polyunsaturated fatty acid has a mixture of cis and trans double bonds and is not a single isomer but the peaks cannot be easily differentiated.

I.e., 18:2 t,t depicts a fatty acid with 18 carbon atoms,

2 double bonds, and
a trans configuration about both of those double bonds.

Where the word 'undifferentiated' appears, the proportions of cis and trans are unknown as the values were entered into the database prior to the practice of analyzing separately for the geometric isomers. This is especially of note in the bakery products group and snack food group where the trans content may be high, but is not reported.

Current methods used to measure fatty acids in foods from SNAP-CAN allow for the separate identification of cis and trans isomers. For these foods, undifferentiated fields are the calculated sum of all differentiated isomers.
i,e., 18:2 undiff is the sum of 18:2ccn-6, 18:2t,t , 18:2i and 18:2cla

Omega-3 and Omega-6 isomers are denoted in shorthand as n-3 and n-6. The n-number indicates the position of the first double bond from the methyl end of the carbon chain.

I.e., 18:2 c, c n-6 18 carbon atoms
2 double bonds
the position of the first double bond indicates an omega 6
a cis configuration about both of those double bonds.

Expression
The values shown are for the actual quantity (g/100g) of each fatty acid and do not represent fatty acid triglycerides. Raw methyl ester data are converted to grams of free fatty acid per 100g of total lipid (fat) using Sheppard conversion factors¹⁷ and then to grams of fatty acid per 100g edible portion of food using the total lipid content.

Fatty Acid Totals
As the individual fatty acids are determined by a different analytical method than that of total fat, the sum of fatty acids is rarely exactly equal to the total fat value. Moreover, total fat may include other fatty acids, phospholipids or sterols and the recovery of fatty acids in the recommended AOAC method for fatty acid profiles is not expected to yield 100% recoveries even with the application of theoretical response factors¹⁸. Values for total saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids may include individual fatty acids not listed in the CNF; therefore, the sum of their values may exceed the sum of the individual fatty acids listed. In rare cases, the sum of individual fatty acids may exceed the sum of the values given for the total saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), and/or polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). These differences are generally caused by rounding and should be relatively small.

Values for conjugated linoleic acid are not included in the total trans sum as there are reports that CLAs yield health benefits and do not carry the negative effects of other trans fatty acids.

For formulated or brand name foods, industry data were often available for only the fatty acid classes (SFA, MUFA, PUFA) or only for the fatty acids required on the Nutrition Facts Table (SFA and TRFA), but were lacking for individual fatty acids.

Table 6 of the appendix lists the fatty acids included in the different totals: monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, saturated fatty acids, etc.

Omega fatty acids

Note: Isomers of omega 3 arachidonic and omega 6 docosapentaenoic do exist in nature, but the USDA does not list these as separate nutrient codes.

Where the data profile is sufficient we are now reporting the sum of omega 3 (Nutr Code 902) and the sum of omega 6 fatty acids (Nutr Code 903).

o) Cholesterol is present only in foods of animal origin. For foods of plant origin, the value for cholesterol is assumed to be zero (nutrient source code 12).

p) Amino acids are extracted in 3 groups: tryptophan, methionine/cystine and the remaining 18 amino acids. All samples from SNAP-CAN were analyzed by UPLC-MS/MS¹⁹.

Descriptions of File Contents

This next section describes some of the most practical aspects of the file contents. For a more detailed outline of the database structure, field names/type etc and the appropriate linkages please see the section entitled "The Canadian Nutrient File".

A. Food Name File

a) Canadian Food Code
The food code is a four digit number which uniquely identifies each food, but doesn't describe or classify the food in any way. Starting with this edition this is not longer the primary key, but is nonetheless always unique to that food and will remain unchanged over time. Please see the Database structure file for further details.

For those wanting to retrieve information regarding whether or not a food is derived from a USDA food and which food, please refer to the field entitled COUNTRY_C (only available in the full download version).

b) Food group code
At present foods are grouped under 22 different group headings based on similar characteristics of the foods.

c) Changing the food source code indicates the degree of Canadian content for the full profile.

d) Descriptive information about the food items is included in this file in both French and English versions. The foodnames are available in two different lengths. As previously, the first measures 60 characters (A_FD_NM) in length and utilizes many abbreviations (Table 3 in the Appendix) to maintain this limit. The second (L_FD_NM) has no abbreviations, contains alternate food descriptions (ie wiener/hot dog) and can be up to 255 characters long. It is the later food description from which the online system performs its search function. A systematic hierarchy is utilized for recording common food names. Elements that may be included are product type, breed, part, physical state, shape or form, cooking method, preservation method, and/or brand name.

For example:
Chicken, broiler, thigh, meat and skin, water chill, stewed Cereal, ready to eat, Mini-Wheats: with white frosting, Kellogg's Soup, cream, mushroom, canned, condensed, whole milk added

B. Nutrient Amount File

Nutrient values per 100 g of food (edible portion) are contained in the Nutrient Amount file. Unique fields are:

a) The nutrient code - three digit nutrient codes as adopted from the USDA system are maintained. They are not alphabetical or sequential.

b) Mean value, all available data per 100 grams edible portion

c) Standard error of the samples, sample composites or contributing papers

d) Number of observations, or the number of samples on which the data are based. If no standard error or number of samples is included, the values have been imputed or calculated from another form of the food, from a similar food, or are based on a calculated recipe.

e) Source of Nutrient Amount Data. The CNF supplies a numeric code or flag for each nutrient value which reveals to the user of the database, the source and/or type of each individual nutrient value.

C. Conversion Factor File

Portion size conversion factors

The conversion factors are food specific multipliers by which the nutrient values for each food may be multiplied to give the nutrients in described portions. Mathematically they are the weight of the portion as described divided by 100 (the nutrient values are recorded per 100 grams of the food). The following formula is used to calculate the nutrient content per household measure.

N= V*W/100 where

N= nutrient value per household measure
V= nutrient value per 100g (all nutrient values are stored in the database per 100g edible portion)
W= g weight of portion

• multiplying by the factors provides the nutrients in the edible portions described on the file (e.g. 1 fruit; 100 mL puree). These are generic weights of a described portion which could differ from local markets (i.e. organic tend to be smaller, fall vegetables larger). If this is crucial to a study one may want to consider weighing the specific items(s) and using those weights instead.
• Weights are given for edible material without refuse, that is, the weight of an apple without the core or stem, or a chicken leg without the bone etc.
• All measurements are in metric. Metric System Equivalents employed in conversions are supplied in Table 1. All linear measurements are in mm or cm.

D. Refuse Amount File

Refuse is the inedible material (ie seeds, bone, skin) contained in some foods. For raw meats, the items as purchased are raw; for cooked meats, the percent refuse is inedible material from the cooked state. For meat cuts containing bone, any connective tissue present is included in the value given for bone. Separable fat is not part of the refuse if the meat is described as lean and fat. Lean refers to muscle tissue that can be readily separated out of the intact cut and includes any marbled fat within the muscle not removable by dissection.

E. Yield Amount File

Occasionally it is more useful to provide a weight of edible cooked food from a raw as purchased or raw with refuse state. These yields reflect both losses as refuse, and cooking losses as moisture and/or evaporation. They cannot be applied to data for the comparable raw food to "cook by calculation" as there are other factors such as nutrient retention to consider in such calculations. Alternatively they can reflect gains in moisture if prepared from a dry product (ie pudding mix).

Appendix

Table 1

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Table 2

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Table 3

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Table 4

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Table 5

1. Southgate, D.A.T., Greenfield H. (2003). Food Composition Data: Production, Management and Use. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

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References

1. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service.  USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. Composition of Foods: Raw, Processed, Prepared. Release 22, September 2009.
2. Department of National Health and Welfare. 1981.  Food and Drugs Act and Regulations. Minister of Supply and Services Canada (plus electronic updates).
3. Health Canada. 1992. Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating. Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada.
4. Health Canada. 2007. Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide.
5. Health Canada. 2008. Nutrient Value of Some Common Foods.
6. Klensin, J.C., Feskanich, D., Lin, V., Truswell, A.S., and Southgate, D.A.T. 1989.  Identification of food components for INFOODS data interchange. United Nations University, Tokyo.
7. Association of Official Analytical Chemists. 2006. Official Methods of Analysis. 18th edition, Revision 1, Arlington, VA.
8. Jones, D.B. 1941. Factors for converting percentages of nitrogen in foods and feeds into percentages of protein. USDA, Circular 83, slight revision.
9. Merrill, A.L. and B.K. Watt. 1973. Energy Value of Foods. Basis and Derivation. Rev. U.S. Dept. of Agric., Agric. Handb. No. 74.
10. Unpublished. EPA Method 3015A. Microwave Assisted Acid Digestion of Sediments, Sludges, Soils and Oils.
11. National Academy of Sciences. National Research Council. 2000.  Dietary Reference Intakes For: Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium and Carotenoids. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.
12. Rucker, D., Allan, J.A., Fick, G.H., Hanley, D.A. 2002. Vitamin D insufficiency in a population of healthy western Canadians. CMAJ, 166(12), 1517-1524.
13. Bilodeau, L., Dufresne, G., Deeks, J., Clément, G., Bertrand, J., Turcotte, S., Robichaud, A, Beraldin, F., Fouquet, A. 2009. Determination of vitamin D₃ and 25-hydroxyvitamin D₃ in foodstuffs by HPLC UV-DAD and LC-MS/MS. J Food Comp and Anal (submitted for publication).
14. Goldschmidt R.J & Wolf W.R. 2007. Determination of Niacin in food materials by liquid chromatography using isotope dilution mass spectrometry. Journal of AOAC International. 90, 1084-1089.
15. Martin, J.I., Landen, W.O., Soliman, A.M., Eitenmiller, R.R. 1990. Application of a tri-enzyme extraction for total folate determination in foods. J Assoc Anal Chem. 73: 805-808.
16. Phillips, K, Ruggio, D.M., Ashraf-Khorassani, M., Haytowitz, D. 2006. Difference in Folate Content of Green and Red Sweet Peppers (Capsicum annum) Determined by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 54, 9998-10002.
17. Sheppard, A.J. 1992. Lipid Manual: Methodology Suitable for Fatty acid-cholesterol Analysis. William C. Brown Publishers, Dubuque, IA.
18. American Oil Chemist's Society.  Sampling and Analysis of Commercial Fats and Oils: AOCS Official Method Ce 1h-05. 2005. AOCS Technical Services.
19. Sarwar, G., Botting, H., and Peace, R. 1988. Complete Amino Acid Analysis of Foods and Feces by Liquid Chromatography of Precolumn Phenylisothiocyanate Derivatives. J. Assoc. Off. Anal. Chem. 71 (6), 1172-1175.

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Food Source Summary

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Nutrient Source Summary

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Nutrient Code Listing

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Licence Agreement - Canadian Nutrient File

This is an agreement between you and Her Majesty the Queen in right of Canada as represented by Health Canada (the "Licensor").

Important: By downloading or printing these database files, you acknowledge that you have read and understood and agree to be legally bound by the terms and conditions set out below. If you do not agree to these terms and conditions, you may not download, print or otherwise use these database files.

The Canadian Nutrient File (CNF) provides information about the nutrient content of certain foods. It is intended as a reference tool only and not as medical advice.

Grant of Licence: Subject to the conditions described hereunder, the Licensor hereby grants to you a personal, royalty-free, non-transferable and non-exclusive licence to use, and reproduce the data in the Canadian Nutrient File (CNF) for conducting searches of the data, and to develop management software that reads the data and permits end users to interact with this data. Redistribution of the Canadian Nutrient File in its original format as relational files is not permitted.

Acknowledgement of Source: If you copy and distribute the data contained in the Canadian Nutrient File you must include the following notice:

Source (or Adapted from, as appropriate): Canadian Nutrient File, Health Canada, 2010

Modifications of Data: You may not modify the nutrient value in the CNF. However, in developing the interpretive software, you may express the nutrient calculations based on a serving size other than the 100 grams used in the CNF.

Data Description and Limitations: The Canadian Nutrient File Compilation of Canadian Food Composition Data - Users' Guide provides information about the content of the CNF, the source and types of nutrients and the limitations of the data. The Guide is intended for both users of the CNF online and those making use of the downloadable files. The Guide is available at: www.healthcanada.gc.ca/cnf (select the link 'Canadian Nutrient File')

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In no event shall the licensor be liable to you or any third party for any direct, indirect, special or consequential damages or personal injury as a result of the use or reliance on the information in the CNF.

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You hereby acknowledge that you have read this licence, understand it and agree to be bound by its terms and conditions.