U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 Food for Health of People and the Environment Lab: Beltsville, MD
 close



    Research

                    Research Projects
                                    Publications
                                    Collaborations
                                    News
                People

                    Staff Listing
                                    CareersSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Northeast Area Beltsville, Maryland (BHNRC) Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center Food for Health of People and the Environment Lab Research





- Fukagawa, Naomi
- McKillop, Kyle
- Harnly, James - Jim
- Pehrsson, Pamela
- Novotny, Janet
- 2023
- Publications
- Human Nutrition (107)

Research Project: FoodData Central **Location:
                            Food for Health of People and the Environment Lab** 2023 Annual Report **Objectives**
                                

The project has four objectives to provide the research infrastructure necessary to address major questions in food composition, assessment of food and nutrient intake, and research diet design for humans participating in studies addressing the impact of food and its components on biological outcomes:

Objective 1. Develop and implement plans for obtaining analytical data for foods to be included in USDA FoodData Central. [Component 2, Problem Statement 2A]

Objective 2. Establish links between datasets/data types to enable research relating to food composition to nutrition and food industry/agricultural practices. [Component 1, Problem Statement 1A]

Objective 3. Design and implement research diets based on study specifications for human volunteers participating in CRIS project plans.  [Component 3, Problem Statement 3B]

Objective 4.  Implement information technology advances to enhance transparency and functionality of databases and related data science research.  [Component 2, Problem Statement 2A] **Approach**
                                

USDA FoodData Central (FDC) is the center of the USDA-based food composition information web. It is an integrated data system that presently provides—in one place—five distinct types of data containing information on food and nutrient profiles. Each data type has a unique purpose. The Human Studies Facility (HSF) serves to design and implement research diets based on study specifications for human volunteers as part of CRIS project plans and to assist in the acquisition and preparation of foods for analysis for inclusion in FDC. The approach for each objective is as follows:
1.	Working group of food scientists, nutritionists, analytical chemists, data scientists, and stakeholders will establish plans for selecting, prioritizing, and analyzing foods to be included in FoodData Central.
2.	Informaticians and nutrition/food scientists will design and maintain datasets in FDC and establish links within FDC and with external databases to enable research relating food components to nutrition and food industry/agricultural practices.
3.	Together with scientists conducting human research studies, HSF staff will design, prepare and implement research diets based on the study specifications and assist in the analyses of the diet composition.
4.	Scientists and IT specialists will employ state-of-the-art technology to enhance transparency and functionality of databases and support data science research. **Progress Report**
                                

The Food for Health of People and the Environment Laboratory (FHPEL) is a new unit that was established under the Beltsville Human Nutrition Center (BHNRC) in October of 2023. Foods for the October 2023 release of FoodData Central are being collected, processed and analyzed. New human studies protocol is in progress (second since the Pandemic) and human volunteers are being screened and recruited. **Accomplishments**


Return to top


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov