A network model for improving access to food and nutrition data.

In this article we propose a network in which existing food composition and consumption databases are linked through a master database of complete and detailed food descriptions. The proposal arises from an analysis of the importance of food data, their descriptive and analytical nature, and their uses. Lack of detail and standardization in food description hinders the retrieval of food and nutrition data from various databases and the integration of such data. Standardized food descriptions can be developed and maintained in the master database, which can then serve as the interface to the many existing databases of analytical data (especially food composition data) and to databases containing data on food production, consumption, and effects, thereby linking these databases in a coordinated system, or network. The ability to link food-related databases by standardized food descriptions offers a powerful tool for scientists and practitioners in the field of food and nutrition.