Food composition table
A food composition table is a reference database of the nutrient content of foods, produced by a national body from laboratory analysis; it is the primary source behind any trustworthy calorie figure.
Behind every calorie number that can be checked is a composition table. Samples of a food are collected, analysed in a laboratory for moisture, protein, fat, carbohydrate, minerals and vitamins, and published with the method and sample size stated.
Why they differ from each other
Tables are built for a country's own food supply. Cultivars, soil, animal feed, processing and recipes differ, so the "same" food genuinely differs. Wheat flour in India is not the wheat flour analysed in the United States, and a table that says so is being accurate, not inconsistent.
Analytical method matters too. Carbohydrate is sometimes measured directly and sometimes calculated by difference — subtracting everything else from 100 — which produces slightly different totals for the same food.
What they are good at, and what they are not
They are excellent for ingredients: a raw lentil, a litre of milk, an egg, a kilogram of atta. They are much weaker for prepared dishes, because a dish is a recipe and a recipe is a choice. Most tables include some composite dishes, analysed from a representative recipe, which is useful as long as you remember that your version used a different amount of oil.
Why this site names them
An unsourced number is an opinion. A number from a named table is one you can look up and argue with.
स्रोत
- 1.FAO/INFOODS food composition databases — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
- 2.FoodData Central — USDA Agricultural Research Service
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