Updated nutrient info for grass-fed beef, bison, dark chocolate, and more!
Hundreds of new foods will soon be available on NutritionData.com and updated nutrition information for many others will be added as well. The new data comes from the USDA's Nutrient Data Laboratory.
The final phase of our update is scheduled for January 6th, after which all of the new data will be available on the site. (Note: Access to your saved foods and recipes will be briefly suspended from around 6 to 9am Eastern time, while we complete the process.)
What's new?
Over 200 new foods will be added to the database, reflecting new foods that have been recently introduced to the marketplace or foods that have simply become more widely consumed in recent years. Many will be of particular interest to the Nutrition Data community, including:
- 28 brand-name soy products, such as various flavors of Silk soy yogurt and soymilk
- 66 soy-based vegetarian foods, including Worthington and Morningstar brands
- 12 new breakfast cereals, including several Kashi brand cereals
- 4 types of dark chocolate representing different cacao levels
- Spray (spritzer) salad dressing
- Grass-fed beef and bison
- Pomegranate juice
- Wild blueberries
- Refried beans
- Microwaved vegetables, including beans and corn
- Several new varieties of canned soup, including lower sodium soups
- Amaranth
In addition to new foods, nutrient data were updated for many foods already in the database. The newer data reflect changes in the commercial food supply as a result of food manufacturing and agricultural practices (as well as some error corrections). Nutrient data were updated for:
- dairy products like cottage cheese and sour cream
- infant formulas
- farmed Atlantic salmon
- several types of cookies, crackers, and pastries
- several types of prepared foods, like chicken pot pies
- fast food items
A few foods were removed from the database because they are no longer available in retail stores, including several cuts of beef (most of the removed products were beef cuts with a ¼ inch fat trim; Beef cuts currently available in the retail market contain 1/8” or 0” of external trim fat.) and a number of dry soup mixes that are no longer on the market.
How the update will affect your existing foods and recipes
If you have recipes containing foods that have been removed from the database, that ingredient will be tagged as "obsolete" in your recipe, and the nutrients from that ingredient will no longer be included in your recipe analysis. To update your recipe, simply search the database for an appropriate replacement ingredient and add it to your recipe. Your recipe analysis will automatically update when you save the recipe.
Over the coming weeks, I'll be taking a closer week at the new data and sharing my observations with you here on the blog. I can already see that there are a few suprises in store!
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Posted by: The Healthy Librarian | Dec 22, 2008 5:08:31 PM
Fantastic! I just saw your post & did a little exploration on your nutrition tools database. It's absolutely wonderful & so complete.
I'm particularly pleased with the quicky anti-flammatory rating.
I've been using myfooddiary.com for creating recipes for a few years--but I need to explore the use of this one--it's far more complete.
Looking forward to seeing the new entries.
Posted by: Sam | Dec 23, 2008 11:27:50 AM
AWESOME on the Silk products! Their generic "soy milk" has bugged me long enough.
Maybe we'll see hemp flour some day? :) I realize it's hardly standardized.
Posted by: Family Nutritionist (http://familynutritionist@blogspot.com) | Jan 5, 2009 4:39:00 PM
I'm looking forward to it! Will IF ratings be updated in light of research showing anti-inflammatory effects of foods such as cinnamon and non-fat cocoa solids?
I'm very curious how wild or
"Maine" blueberries are going to stack up against "blueberries", which I assume are the large "highbush" blueberries I usually see on the produce aisle.
Posted by: Tom | Jan 7, 2009 10:36:57 AM
I'm wondering if we can get a complete list of the changes? I download the CSV daily and add to my database of the foods I've eaten and nutrients over time - I'd like to see if I need to make any adjustments to historical data.
This is an absolutely fabulous site, my only suggestion is to have the capacity for users to archive their daily lists and then allow the user to report out on trends by week, month, year-to-date, etc. Also the capability to categorize foods (Grains, Vegetables, Fruits, etc.) and report out on this I do this by consolidating and then editing the CSV reports on a daily basis, but this is VERY time consuming (in part because nutrients and foods are combined in one report and because the report is CSV delimitted when a more appropriate format for databases where any text might have commas (such as the food description) is Tab delimmted).
That said, still wonderful site.
Thanks!
Posted by: Arline Larson | Jan 12, 2009 4:32:01 PM
I am truly enjoying the info here!
It is info we need.
Posted by: mindy | Jan 12, 2009 6:43:07 PM
Have you thought about adding CHIA a wonderful high fiber, high calcium and other mineral seed?
I eat it and love the results.
MINDY
Posted by: david | Jan 12, 2009 11:08:45 PM
Dear Monica
Why confuse people about grass fed beef etc by bringing in the Omega 3 issue...its irrelevant.
For the O 3s one has to go the veg route so casting doubts on the grass fed beef value is just nitpicking. Stress the gains and avoid confusion - lord knows there is enough of it already out there...
rgds
David
Posted by: Michael Wylie | Jan 13, 2009 8:11:37 PM
Dear Monica,
When I read the piece about no omega-3 differences in grass-fed vs. corn-fed beef, first I wondered who was paying for that comment...perhaps the corn-fed beef industry. A recent read of Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" suggests that it is not the raw amount of Omega-3 but the ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 that makes the difference, and not only in beef but also farm-raised salmon. However, there is SO MUCH more to be concerned about with respect to eating industrially, corn-fed beef than just the Omega-3 content.
MW
Posted by: Monica Reinagel, M.S., LD/N | Jan 13, 2009 8:51:21 PM
Hi MW,
you're right: the ratio is the thing that seems to make the big difference but the ratio also wasn't quite as dramatic as many may have expected.
However, I completely agree with you that this is only ONE of the things we need to consider when choosing our food sources.
Posted by: Theresa | Jan 14, 2009 2:35:22 AM
There are more studies continuing to find that grass-fed meat has more healthier fats than corn-fed meat. With the removal of vitamin D from many foods in the list and now possible removal of correct information on fat content of meat, I'm beginning to wonder if the USDA is going the way of the FDA (such as the Monsanto executive who became an executive at FDA). It's getting harder to trust it.
