THE USDA FOOD AND NUTRIENT DATABASE 
                FOR DIETARY STUDIES, 4.1 – 
             DOCUMENTATION AND USER GUIDE 
                               
                                      
                               
         A nutrient value has been updated in May 2013 to reflect the USDA National 
                               
         Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 25,  Errata for Caffeine 
                               
         value for NDB No. 14627, Energy Drink, Monster (Agricultural Research 
         Service, Nutrient Data Laboratory, December 14, 2012). 
                               
                               
                               
            Nutrient values have been updated to reflect the USDA National 
            Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 22,  Errata for 
                               
            several fatty acids in 2% reduced fat milk (Agricultural Research 
                              
            Service, Nutrient Data Laboratory, August 10, 2010). 
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                      U.S. Department of Agriculture 
                       Agricultural Research Service 
                   Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center 
                      Food Surveys Research Group 
                        10300 Baltimore Avenue 
                     BARC-West, Building 005, Room 102 
                      Beltsville, Maryland 20705-2350 
                     http://www.ars.usda.gov/ba/bhnrc/fsrg 
        
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        Suggested citation: US
                     DA Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies, 4.1 (2010). 
        Beltsville, MD: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Food Surveys 
        Research Group. 
         
         
         
         
         
         
        DISCLAIMERS 
         
        The use of trade, firm, or corporation names in this publication is for the information and 
        convenience of the reader. Such use does not constitute an official endorsement or approval by 
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        service to the exclusion of others that may be suitable. 
         
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        or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. 
         
         
         
        Issued July 2010
        Revised August 2010 
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           CONTENTS 
           LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... 5 
           LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................... 5 
           LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ......................................................................... 6 
           INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 7 
             What is the FNDDS? .............................................................................................................. 7 
             How Can You Use It? ............................................................................................................. 7 
             What Are Some FNDDS Applications? ................................................................................... 7 
             How Can I Learn More About the FNDDS, WWEIA, and the SR? .......................................... 8 
           DEVELOPMENT AND UPDATING OF THE FNDDS ................................................................. 9 
             Development and Updating .................................................................................................... 9 
             Changes Between FNDDS 3.0 and FNDDS 4.1 ....................................................................11 
           GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT FNDDS FORMAT ............................................................13 
             What is the Database Format? ..............................................................................................13 
             ASCII Format Files ................................................................................................................17 
             SAS® Dataset ........................................................................................................................17 
                     ®
             MS Access  Format Database ..............................................................................................17 
              Sample report and queries available ................................................................................. 18 
           FILE FORMATS .......................................................................................................................19 
             Key to Tables ........................................................................................................................19 
             Food Descriptions Component ..............................................................................................20 
              Main food descriptions ...................................................................................................... 21 
              Additional food descriptions .............................................................................................. 22 
              Examples of data records from the Food Descriptions Component files ............................ 23 
             Food Portions and Weights Component ................................................................................24 
              Food weights .................................................................................................................... 25 
              Food portion descriptions .................................................................................................. 26 
              Subcode descriptions ........................................................................................................ 27 
              Food code-subcode links .................................................................................................. 28 
              Examples of data records from the Food Portions and Weights Component files.............. 29 
             Nutrients Component .............................................................................................................30 
              FNDDS nutrient values ..................................................................................................... 31 
              Nutrient descriptions ......................................................................................................... 33 
              Moisture & fat adjustments ................................................................................................ 34 
              FNDDS-SR links ............................................................................................................... 35 
                About retention codes and factors ................................................................................. 36 
              Examples of data records from the Nutrients Component files .......................................... 39 
             Combining Data from Different Files in MS Access® ..............................................................41 
           FOOD CODE NUMBERS, THE FOOD CODING SCHEME, AND FSRG-DEFINED FOOD 
           GROUPS ..................................................................................................................................42
                                                                                  
           NOTES ABOUT FOODS IN THE DATABASE .........................................................................43 
             Brand names .........................................................................................................................43 
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                           Fortified foods ........................................................................................................................43 
                           Fortified bars .........................................................................................................................44 
                           Water .....................................................................................................................................44 
                           Revisions in the FNDDS-SR Links for purposes of estimating vitamin D values ....................44 
                       DEFAULTS USED FOR CODING FOODS AND AMOUNTS IN WWEIA .................................45 
                           Foods ....................................................................................................................................45 
                           Amounts ................................................................................................................................46 
                       MULTI-YEAR VERSION OF FNDDS ........................................................................................46 
                       LITERATURE CITED ................................................................................................................48 
                       APPENDIXES ...........................................................................................................................49 
                           Appendix A. List of Nutrients/Food Components (Unit) ..........................................................49 
                           Appendix B. Food Coding Scheme ........................................................................................50 
                           Appendix C. FSRG-Defined Food Groups – What Each Group Includes and Excludes and 
                           Food Codes in Each Group ...................................................................................................63
                                                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                            ®
                           Appendix D. Sample Report and Sample Queries Using FNDDS Files in MS Access  ........ 100 
                              Sample Report ................................................................................................................ 100 
                              Sample Queries .............................................................................................................. 100 
                                  Background planning for sample query........................................................................ 101 
                                  SelectNutrients-Step 1 ................................................................................................. 101 
                                  SelectNutrients-Step 2 ................................................................................................. 102 
                                  SelectNutrients-Step 3 ................................................................................................. 102 
                           Appendix E. Explanations of Selected Terms ......................................................................103                              
                       INDEX .....................................................................................................................................105        
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