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UK food composition data: a comparison between branded and generic products in myfood24

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2022

G. Williams
Affiliation:
Dietary Assessment Ltd, Nexus Building University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
R.D. Cade
Affiliation:
Dietary Assessment Ltd, Nexus Building University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
S. Beer
Affiliation:
Dietary Assessment Ltd, Nexus Building University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
J.E. Cade
Affiliation:
Dietary Assessment Ltd, Nexus Building University of Leeds, Leeds, UK Nutritional Epidemiology Group, School of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
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Abstract

Type
Abstract
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2022

The UK food supply has grown, and the generic food composition tables(1) no longer represent current diets. The main UK database underlying the online tool, myfood24(Reference Carter2), has been quality checked for accuracy to represent the wider retail food supply. The dataset contains extensive nutrient information on both branded and generic items. Our aim was to describe the UK database (December 2021) and compare nutrient values for food groups from different locations: supermarkets, fast food outlets, coffee shops and restaurants, health food shops and food delivery services with generic products. Foods from UK retailers were identified, and back-of-pack nutrient information was extracted. A mapping process was undertaken to match foods to the nearest generic food item from McCance and Widdowson v7 to provide complete nutritional composition data for over 100 nutrients, vitamins and minerals. The myfood24 UK database includes 10 of the 11 main supermarkets; 5 of the major coffee shop chains; 9 of the leading fast-food outlets; plus, food delivery services. By December 2021, there were 79,338 branded food items included and 3,334 generic products. Mean nutrient values for branded compared to generic items was statistically significant for many food groups and nutrients. The branded database shows significantly higher values compared to generic tables for energy for cereals, chocolate, dried fruit, fish, fresh fruit, muffins, nuts, sweet bakery products and ready meals and a lower mean energy intake for oils. For example, the branded database contains information on 2925 chocolate products compared to 19 items in the generic database. Branded chocolates have a mean energy/100 g of 518kcal and the generic items 476kcal; mean difference 41kcal (95%CI: 20, 62kcal). Branded cereals (n = 1275) have a mean energy/100 g of 377kcal and the generic cereals (n = 42) a mean energy/100 g of 320kcal; mean difference 58kcal (95%CI: 14, 101kcal). Branded oils (n = 452) have lower energy/100 g at 839kcal compared to generic oils (n = 24) at 897kcal; mean difference -59kcal (95%CI: -10, -107kcal). Differences between branded and generic data could lead to error in calculation of nutrient intakes in surveys. New products are appearing all the time, and the myfood24 database has now over 90k items with full nutrient data. Use of retail product information is important in understanding population nutrient intake data.

References

Public Health England (2015) McCance and Widdowson's The Composition of Foods: Seventh Summary Edition, Royal Society of Chemistry.Google Scholar
Carter, MC, et al. (2016) Nutrients 8(8), 480.CrossRefGoogle Scholar