Dietary fiber includes polysaccharides, oligosaccharides, lignin, and associated plant substances.
Executive Summary Establishing a definition for dietary fiber has historically been a balance between nutrition knowledge and analytical method capabilities. While the physiologically based definitions most widely accepted have generally been accurate in defining the dietary fiber in foods, scientists and regulators have tended, in fact, to rely on analytical procedures as the definitional basis in fact. As a result, incongruencies between theory and practice have resulted in confusion regarding the components that make up dietary fiber. The committee was further charged with assessing the state of analytical methodology and making recommendations relevant to the updated definition. In addition, an international website, available to all web users worldwide, was set up to receive comments from scientists.