The composition of food is given per 100 grams of edible matter, except for alcoholic beverages, for which the composition is per 100 millilitres.
Definitions and explanations of the data included in the database are reported in the following sections.
The present database version includes both updated data 2015 and old versions data 2008 and 1998 (Salvini et al., 1998). The databases mainly differ for the different number of food components and for some difference in the coding and presentation of data. These differences are reported in each section.
Exceptions to the definitions reported below are reported in the food forms. We apologise in advance for any possible omission users may find.
Edible Matter
Represents, for each food item, the percent amount of the food item available for consumption after cleaning and preparation (peeling, elimination of external leaves of some vegetables, elimination of bones from meat or chicken, etc.).
Expressed as percentage.
MAIN COMPONENTS
Energy
The energy content is expressed in kiloJoules (kJ) and in kilocalories (kcal) and the values reported on the form are two: “Energy, recalculated” and “Energy, recalculated with fibre”.
It is calculated from the foods content of protein, fat, available carbohydrate and alcohol using the following conversion factors (Greenfield & Southgate, 2003):
Energy – expressed as kJ (without fibre)
1 g of protein – 17 kJ
1 g of available carbohydrate (expressed as monosaccharides) 16 kJ *
1 g of carbohydrate (calculated by difference) – 17 kJ
1 g of fat – 37 kJ
1 g of alcohol – 29 kJ
Energy – expressed as kcal (without fibre)
1 g proteins – 4 kcal
1 g carbohydrates (expressed as monosaccharide) – 3.75 kcal *
1 g carbohydrates (assessed by difference) – 4 kcal
1 g fats – 9 kcal
1 g alcohol – 7 kcal
The European Directive 2008/100/CE of 28th October 2008, which modify the Council Directive 90/496/CEE concerning food nutritional labels, introduced the obligation of reporting the energy from fibres in the food label. This quantity corresponds to 8 kJ (2 kcal) per dietary fibre gram. The energy values included in this database do not include the energy from fibre.
Energy – expressed as kJ (without fibre)
1 g of protein – 17 kJ
1 g of available carbohydrate (expressed as monosaccharides) 16 kJ *
1 g of carbohydrate (calculated by difference) – 17 kJ
1 g of fat – 37 kJ
1 g of alcohol – 29 kJ
1 g of fibre – 8 kJ
Energy – expressed as kcal (without fibre)
1 g proteins – 4 kcal
1 g carbohydrates (expressed as monosaccharide) – 3.75 kcal *
1 g carbohydrates (assessed by difference) – 4 kcal
1 g fats – 9 kcal
1 g alcohol – 7 kcal
1 g of fibre – 2 kcal
* these coefficients were used also when carbohydrates were estimated by difference (from USDA and food nutritional label sources): in these circumstances, the food energy should be estimated separately using coefficients equal to 4 and 17 for energy expressed as kcal and kJ respectively.
Total Protein
Defined as total nitrogen (N) multiplied by the factors proposed by Jones (Jones DB, 1941). However, for the most part of data, total nitrogen value is not available, so the protein value is the one reported in the original source.
In the Food Composition table published by Perugia University (Fidanza et al, 1989, source code 03), for some food items proteins are expressed as pure or true proteins (total nitrogen minus non-protein nitrogen). In such cases total protein have been recomputed in order to obtain uniform expression. Data that were recomputed are clearly shown in the tables.
Expressed as g/100g of food.
Animal and vegetable protein.
This distinction, very rough and not based on any scientific measure, is only intended to be an indicator of the origin of the item (animal or vegetable). For simple items (meat, fruits, vegetables) total protein have been assigned to one of the two groups. When animal and/or vegetable proteins are clearly absent is assumed to be zero (logical zero – LZ) has been assigned. For mixed foods (e.g. sweets and baked products), an estimate was made based on the available information or based on the compilers’ experience. For mushrooms the protein values are indicated as vegetable origin, although this is inaccurate of point of view of phylogenetic classification (Maggi, 2008).
Expressed as g/100g of food.
Total fat
Defined as the sum of triglycerides, phospholipids, sterols and related compounds, by weight method.
Expressed as g/100g of food.
Animal and vegetable fats.
This distinction, very rough and not based on any scientific measure, is only intended to be an indicator of the origin of the item (animal or vegetable). For simple items (meat, fruits, vegetables) total fat have been assigned to one of the two groups. When animal and/or vegetable fats are absent, is assumed to be zero (logical zero – LZ). For mixed foods (e.g. sweets and baked products), an estimate was made based on the available information or based on the compilers’ experience.
Expressed as g/100g of food.
Cholesterol
Only in foods of animal or mixed origin.
When clearly absent in product of vegetable origin, is assumed to be zero (logical zero – LZ).
For any possible exception, please refer to the definitions of single bibliographical sources.
Expressed as mg/100g of food.
Carbohydrates
Are reported separately as:
Available carbohydrates: sum of monosaccharides, disaccharides, dextrins, starch and glycogen expressed as monosaccharides.
Attention: in the literature, carbohydrates are sometimes calculated by subtraction:
total carbohydrate = 100 – (water + protein + fat + ash + alcohol)
We tried to avoid using such data, and when we used them available carbohydrates were estimated according to the following formula:
available carbohydrate = total carbohydrate – dietary fibre
or
available carbohydrate = 100 – (water + protein + fat + ash + alcohol + dietary fibre)
Expressed as g/100g of food.
Soluble carbohydrates: sum of monosaccharides (glucose, galactose and fructose) and disaccharides (saccharose and lactose) expressed as monosaccharides.
1 gram of disaccharides (e.g. saccharose) corresponds to 1.05 grams of monosaccharides.
Expressed as g/100g of food.
Starch: expressed as monosaccharide.
Glycogen, when present, is included as starch, and the note of the component list it’s presence.
1g starch as polysaccharide = 1.1g of starch as monosaccharide.
When the quantity of starch was expressed as polysaccharide by the bibliographical source, the value was appropriately transformed.
Expressed as g/100g of food.
Total Dietary Fibre
Expressed as sum of cellulose, emicellulose, pectins, gum and lignin.
The definition and amount of fibre in food vary based on the analytical method. Data in 1998, 2008 and 2015 derive from Italian food tables by Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca per gli Alimenti e la Nutrizione (INRAN) and were obtained by enzymatic gravimetric methods (AOAC, 1980 or equivalents). To obtain uniform data, only the values obtained by the same or equivalent methods were included. Whenever the method was different from AOAC, it is clearly marked in the notes (mainly Southgate, 1969; Englyst & Cummings, 1988).
For animal products is assumed to be zero (logical zero – LZ)
Expressed as g/100g of food.
Alcohol
In the food categories where clearly absent, is assumed to be zero (logical zero – LZ). Make an exception when an alcoholic beverage is included in the formulation or recipe as crude ingredient (e.g.: sweets soaked with an alcoholic beverage, etc.).
The alcoholic grade is obtained dividing by 0.79 (alcohol density) the grams of alcohol (expressed as weight over volume).
Alcohol expressed as grams per 100 millilitres of beverage can be transformed into grams per 100 grams of beverage according to the following:
a. Beverages with density (specific gravity) approximately equal to 1, such as wine, beer:
alcohol [g/100g] = alcohol [g/100ml] * 0.79
b. Other alcoholic beverages:
alcohol [g/100g] = alcohol [g /100 ml] * 0.79
specific gravity
Expressed as g/100ml of alcoholic beverage and in g/100g of food item in the other categories
Water
Values derive from direct or indirect measurement of the water removed from food by drying method. The only exceptions are some food items for which the composition was derived from nutritional food labels, where water is not shown. In such cases the information is missing or was computed by difference;
water = 100 – (protein+ fat + available carbohydrate+total dietary fibre + ash1)
1if present
Expressed as g/100g of food.
Minerals and trace-elements
In the database the following minerals and trace-elements are reported:
| Name | Symbol | Unit/100g 1 |
| Calcium | Ca | mg |
| Chlorine 2 | Cl | mg |
| Copper 2 | Cu | mg |
| Iron | Fe | mg |
| Iodine 2 | I | μg |
| Potassium | K | mg |
| Magnesium 2 | Mg | mg |
| Manganese 2 | Mn | mg |
| Sodium 3 | Na | mg |
| Phopshorus | P | mg |
| Sulphur 2 | S | mg |
| Selenium 2 | Se | μg |
| Zinc | Zn | mg |
1 only for alcoholic beverages, the composition is expressed per 100 millilitres (ml)
2 only in version 2008 and 2015
3 to transform sodium in sodium chloride (table salt – NcCl) and viceversa the following factors should be applied:
Na * 2.5 = NaCl
NaCl * 0.393 = Na
Water soluble vitamins
Thiamin or Vitamin B1.
Expressed as mg/100g of food.
Riboflavin or Vitamin B2.
Expressed as mg/100g of food.
Vitamin C
Sum of ascorbic and dehydroascorbic acid.
Expressed as mg/100g of food.
Niacin or Vitamin PP
Sum of nicotinic acid and nicotinamide.
Expressed as mg/100g of food.
Vitamin B6
Sum of piridoxal, piridossine, piridossamine.
Expressed as mg/100g of food.
Total Folate
Sum of total and free folates, derivatives of the 5,6,7,8-tetrahydrofolic acid.
Folate can be either naturally present or intentionally added into food in quantities defined by National laws in each country (fortified foods). In Italy, supplementation is admitted only for products included in the diet product list (D.Lgs 111, 27th January 1992).
Expressed as µg /100g of food.
Panthotenic acid
Data refers to the contents of panthothenic acid. The British sources (FSA, 2002) refers that the majority of values are expressed as Calcium D-pantothenate, but it was not possible to distinguish them, while the American source (USDA) refers to panthothenic acid.
It is worth mentioning that 10 mg of Calcium D-Panthothenate corresponds to 9.2 mg of panthothenic acid, but the data here have not been modified.
Expressed as mg/100g of food.
Only in version 2008 and 2015
Biotin
Expressed as µg /100g of food.
Only in version 2008 and 2015
Vitamin B12
This Vitamin is found in foods of animal origin or those containing some ingredient of animal origin (e.g., recipe that contains eggs and/or milk). For foods of vegetable origin, the value for vitamin B12 is assumed to be zero (logical zero – LZ).
Expressed as µg /100g of food.
Only in version 2008 and 2015
Vitamin K
The main form of vitamin K is phylloquinone (vitamin K1), but when the data come from the American database (USDA) it could be dihydrophylloquinone or menaquinone-4.
Dihydrophylloquinone is created during the commercial hydrogenation of plant oils. Menaquinone-4 is formed from vitamin K1 and/or the synthetic form of vitamin K found in animal feed, and is found primarily in meats and meatproducts.
Expressed as µg /100g of food.
Only in version 2015
Fat-soluble vitamins
Vitamin A
Defined as the sum of retinoids and of the carotenoids with vitamin activity. The database shows values for Vitamina A, expressed as retinol equivalent, retinol and β-carotene expressed as β-carotene equivalents.
Retinol Equivalent
Sum of retinoids and of carotenoids with vitamin activity, expressed as retinol equivalent. In this database the most common definition has been maintained, i.e. sum of total retinol + 1/6 of total carotenoids expressed as β-carotene equivalents. Exceptions, if present, are reported in a note included in the database. Transformations were calculated by mean of the following conversions:
1 retinol equivalent corresponds to:
– 1 µg retinol
– 6 µg β-carotene
– 12 µg of other carotenoids with vitamin activity
– 3.33 IU vitamin A
The USDA table, starting form Standard Realease 15 (SR15) do not present the Vitamin A composition of food as retinol equivalent, but as RAE (Retinol Equivalent Activity). This change is due to recent studies issued by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM, 2001) that show that vitamin activity for β-carotene and other carotenoids is only half with respect to what was previously believed. Practically, vitamin activity is halved if derived from β-carotene equivalents.
According to the new studies vitamin A expressed as IU and as retinol equivalent overestimates bioavailability of the compound. The following are the conversion factors to be used to transform data from one to the other unit.
1 RAE corrisponds to:
– 1 µg of retinol
– 12 µg of β-carotene
– 24 µg of other carotenoids with vitamin activity
1 UI corrisponde a:
– 0.3 µg of retinol
– 0.6 µg of β-carotene
– 1.2 µg di of other carotenoids with vitamin activity
Therefore, 1 retinol equivalent corresponds to 1 RAE in food of animal origin (except dairy products and offals, that contain also carotenoids).
In food of vegetable origin, 1 retinol equivalent corresponds to 0.5 RAE.
The Italian composition tables (Carnovale e Miuccio, 1976, 1989; Carnovale e Marletta, 1997, 2000) do not show the distinction of retinol equivalent in retinol and β-carotene: these values were estimated, when possible, or data were borrowed from another source.
Expressed as µg /100g of food.
Retinol: sum of all-trans retinol and other retinoids with vitamin activity. For food items of vegetable origin, the value for Retinol is assumed to be zero (logical zero – LZ).
Expressed as µg /100g of food.
β-carotene equivalents
Sum of β-carotene and half of the amount of α-carotene and α- and β-cryptoxanthin. When only β-carotene was reported on the source of the data, and other carotenoids were shown only in footnotes, such values have been summed to β-carotene after appropriate conversion.
Expressed as µg of di β-carotene equivalents/100g of food.
Vitamin E: sum of all tocopherols and tocotrienols with vitamin activity and expressed as
α-tocopherol equivalent.
The following conversion factors were used:
α-tocopherol x 1.00
β-tocopherol x 0.40
γ-tocopherol x 0.10
δ-tocopherol x 0.01
α-tocotrienol x 0.30
β-tocotrienol x 0.05
γ-tocotrienol x 0.01
If the source used for the compilation only had the value for α-tocopherol, this exception is marked in the notes.
Expressed as mg of α-tocopherol equivalents/100g of food.
Vitamin D
Sum of ergocalcipherol(vitamin D2) and cholecalcipherol (vitamin D3).
1g cholecalcipherol or ergocalcipherol = 40 IU of vitamin D
This Vitamin is found in foods of animal origin or those containing some ingredient of animal origin (e.g., recipe that contains eggs and/or milk). For foods of vegetable origin, the value for vitamin D is assumed to be zero (logical zero – LZ)
Several fungal species contain ergosterol, a substance that, irradiated with ultraviolet light is transformed into ergocalciferol (vitamin D2). The amount of ergocalciferol is less in cultivated than in spontaneous mushrooms. Irradiation with UV-C radiation (254 nm) can produce a marked increase of ergocalcipherol both in cultivated and dried and/or frozen mushrooms (Teichmann et al, 2007). It is used for conservation purposes in some countries (but not in Italy).
Expressed as µg /100g of food.
FATTY ACIDS
Data are shown for:
Saturated fatty acids; Sum of butyric, caproic, caprylic and capric acids; Lauric acid; Myristic acid;Palmitic acid;Stearic acid; Arachidic acid; Behenic acid;
Monounsaturated fatty acids; Myristoleic acid; Palmitoleic acid; Oleic acid; Eicosenic acid; Erucic acid;
Polyunsaturated fatty acids; Linoleic acid; Linolenic acid; Arachidonic acid ; Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA); Decosahexaenoic acid (DHA);Other polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Expressed as g /100g of food.
Fatty acids in bold have been added in version 2008 and 2015
Some food composition tables and scientific articles show the composition of fatty acids in terms of fatty acids per 100 grams of total fats. If needed, appropriate transformation has been applied using the following conversion factors reported in the table (Paul and Southgate, 1978).
Table: Conversion factors to calculate total fatty acids from fat
| Food | Factors | Food | Factors |
| aWheat, barley, rye: | Beefc and lamb, lean | 0.916 | |
| – whole grain | 0.720 | Beefc and lamb, fat | 0.953 |
| – flour | 0.670 | Porkd, lean | 0.910 |
| – bran | 0.820 | Porkd, fat | 0.953 |
| aOats, whole | 0.940 | Poultry | 0.945 |
| aRice | 0.850 | Braind | 0.561 |
| Heartd | 0.789 | ||
| Milk and milk products | 0.945 | Kidneyd | 0.747 |
| Liverd | 0.741 | ||
| bEggs | 0.830 | Fish, fattye | 0.900 |
| Fish, whitee | 0.700 | ||
| Fats and oils: | Vegetables and fruit | 0.800 | |
| – all except coconut oil | 0.956 | Avocado pears | 0.956 |
| – coconut oil | 0.942 | Nuts | 0.956 |
aWeirauch et al., 1976; bPosati et al., 1975; cAnderson et al., 1975; dAnderson, 1976; eExler, 1975.
If the value of total fat is trace or zero, all fatty acids are equal to zero (logical zero – LZ).
The “Other polyunsaturated fatty acids” is calculated by difference:
[Other polyunsaturated fatty acids] = [Polyunsaturated fatty acids] – {[Linoleic acid] + [Linolenic acid] + [Arachidonic acid] + [Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)] + [Decosahexaenoic acid (DHA)]}.
AMINOACIDS
The aminoacid content for 18 amino acids are given: tryptophan, threonine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, cystine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, valine, arginine, histidin, alanine, asparagic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, proline and serine.
If the value of total protein is trace or zero, all aminoacids are consequently equal to zero (logical zero – LZ).
Expressed as mg /100g of food.
Only in version 2008 and 2015
SUGARS
The content of six single sugars is reported: Glucose; Fructose; Galactose; Saccarose; Maltose; Lactose
If the value of soluble carbohydrates is trace or zero, all single sugars are consequently equal to zero (logical zero – LZ).
Expressed as g /100g of food.
Only in version 2008 and 2015