Agenda

Production and use of Food Composition data in Nutrition

 Compilations of data on the nutritional composition of foods are essential tools for nutritionists, especially those concerned with monitoring adequacy of dietary intake, for linking diet to health and disease, for planning and prescription, education, food security, and for trade, export and legislation. A two-week training course on the production and use of food composition data in nutrition is offered by the Division of Human Nutrition of Wageningen University and Graduate School VLAG (The Netherlands) from 13-25 October 2013 (FoodComp 2013). Ten courses were organised in Wageningen between 1992 and 2011. Regional courses were organised in Chile in 1995; in Argentina in 1996; in South Africa in 1997, 1999, 2002, 2005 and 2010; in Jamaica in 2001; in Thailand in 2002, in India in 2007, in Turkey in 2012, and in Slovak Republic in 2006 and 2008

Objectives of course

The aim of FoodComp 2013 is to demonstrate how to produce, manage and use good quality food composition data in a standardized way, using harmonized procedures, so that the requirements of the multiple users of food composition data can be met. The course will be based on the philosophy that the preparation of nutritional databases requires close understanding of the needs of the users by both compilers and producers of data. The course will show how this understanding can be achieved and the benefits that flow from the collaboration of users, analysts and compilers.