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Students use online nutrition databases to analyze the vitamin and mineral content of their previous day's meals. They create detailed spreadsheets identifying major sources of different micronutrients and assess if their intake meets recommended daily allowances. They then make recommendations for improving their nutrient intake.

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FoodData Central is an integrated data system that provides expanded nutrient profile data and links to related agricultural and experimental research.

At this time, only a basic view of search results is available for viewing on mobile devices. Advanced filter features, such as searching by data type, are not yet mobile-enabled and are available only in desktop view. Users are encouraged to use a desktop computer to conduct food item searches.
Inventory and Update Log

Planned for October 2023:

FoodData Central takes the analysis, compilation, and presentation of nutrient and food component data to a new level. FoodData Central:

Can be used by, and has benefits for, a variety of users, including researchers, policy makers, academicians and educators, nutrition and health professionals, product developers, and others.

Includes five distinct data types that provide information on food and nutrient profiles: Foundation Foods, Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies 2019-2020 (FNDDS 2019-2020), National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Legacy Release (SR Legacy), USDA Global Branded Food Products Database (Branded Foods), and Experimental Foods. Each of these data types has a unique purpose and unique attributes.

Links these distinct data types in one location, thus strengthening the ability of researchers, policy makers, and others to address vital issues related to food, nutrition, and diet-health interactions.

Provides a broad snapshot in time of the nutrients and other components found in a wide variety of foods and food products.

Before you get started, view the About Us page for essential information about FoodData Central data types and how to use this system.

FoodData Central is managed by the Agricultural Research Service's Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center and hosted by the National Agricultural Library.

The suggested citation is: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

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FoodData Central is an integrated data system that provides expanded nutrient profile data and links to related agricultural and experimental research. At this time, only a basic view of search results is available for viewing on mobile devices. Advanced filter features, such as searching by data type, are not yet mobile-enabled and are available only in desktop view.

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In small groups, students are assigned different vitamin or mineral deficiency scenarios. Using online medical resources, they research the symptoms, causes, and treatments. Each group creates a presentation explaining the deficiency's biochemical basis and its effects on human health.

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Students create an interactive digital mind map showing the interactions between different minerals in the body (e.g., calcium and iron absorption competition). They use different colors and connecting lines to show synergistic and antagonistic relationships.

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Using online simulations or research papers, students investigate how different food processing methods affect vitamin content. They create a comparative analysis of raw vs. processed foods and develop guidelines for minimal nutrient loss during cooking.

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Students develop spreadsheet-based calculators that account for factors affecting vitamin and mineral bioavailability (such as chemical form, food matrix, and interactions). They use this to analyze real meal combinations and suggest improvements.

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Students research and create digital maps showing global distribution of nutrient deficiencies. They analyze how geographical, economic, and cultural factors influence nutrient intake across different populations.

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Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System (VMNIS)

The Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System (VMNIS), formerly known as the Micronutrient Deficiency Information System (MDIS), was established in 1991 following a request by the World Health Assembly to strengthen surveillance of micronutrient deficiencies at the global level.

The objectives of the VMNIS are to:

Systematically retrieve and summarize data on vitamin and mineral status of populations.

Provide Member States with up-to-date national, regional, and global assessments of the magnitude of vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Track progress towards the goal of eliminating major vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Provide tools and resources to support efforts of Member States and their partners for assessing vitamin and mineral nutritional status in populations

The VMNIS has four main components: 1) The Micronutrients database; 2) Summaries of biochemical indicators for assessing the prevalence of various vitamin and mineral deficiencies in populations; 3) Surveillance tools; 3) Global laboratory directory for the assessment of micronutrient status.

The Department of Nutrition and Food Safety manages the VMNIS through WHO's network of regional and country offices, and in close collaboration with national health authorities.

Micronutrients database

The Micronutrients Database is an interactive platform for summarizing data published in reports and manuscripts on the micronutrient status of populations representative at the national, regional (within-country) and first administrative level (e.g. canton, state, province).

The Micronutrients Database was first developed as part of the Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System, formerly known as the Micronutrient Deficiency Information System, in 1991. After a thorough evaluation of the database from the epidemiologic and public health informatics perspectives ¹, the database has been upgraded and expanded to include 40 indicators of the status of 17 micronutrients or micronutrient-related conditions, covering both deficiency and excess.

If you are aware of data not already in the database, a representative at the national, regional (within-country) or first administrative level (e.g. canton, state, province), we encourage you to send the published survey report or manuscript to [email protected]

1 Aburto NJ, Rogers L, De-Regil LM, Kuruchittham V, Rob G, Arif R, Peña-Rosas JP An evaluation of a global vitamin and mineral nutrition surveillance system. Arch Latinoam Nutr. 2013 Jun;63(2):105-13.

Indicators

This section aims to provide users of VMNIS with information on different biochemical indicators for assessing the prevalence of various vitamin and mineral deficiencies in populations. These documentsare a compilation of current WHO recommendations on the topic from different sources. They summarize the currently recognized cut-offs for defining deficiencies and severity of deficiencies at the population level, and the chronology of their establishment.

The cut-offs included in these summaries are essential for identifying populations most at risk of deficiency and in need of intervention. They also permit both the monitoring of trends of vitamin and mineral deficiencies and the evaluation of the impact of interventions. Such assessments allow for the measurement of progress towards international goals of control and prevention of vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Global laboratory directory for the assessment of micronutrient status

WHO Global laboratory directory for the assessment of micronutrient status serve as a directory of laboratories that are capable of assessing biomarkers of micronutrient status for health and nutrition surveys.

The purpose of this directory is to help Member States and their partners identify laboratories measuring biomarkers of vitamin and mineral status at the population level so that they may be able to further evaluate the laboratory for possible participation in their nutrition surveys.

WHO is currently inviting public and private laboratories around the world with previous experience in vitamin and mineral status assessment to register their laboratories in this global directory. This form is targeted towards directors, technical directors, managers, and laboratory technicians responsible for national public health laboratories, public or private laboratories for human diagnostics, hospitals, research centres, academic laboratories, and national reference laboratories involved in the execution of large surveys.

Peer-reviewed articles

Due to copyright arrangements, some of the links to articles may be not freely accessible.

Garcia-Casal et al. Use and interpretation of hemoglobin concentrations for assessing anemia status in individuals and populations: results from a WHO technical meeting
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol 1450, Issue 1, 5-14, 21 April 2019

Rogers L et al. Global folate status in women of reproductive age: a systematic review with emphasis on methodological issues.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 1431, Issue 1, Special Issue, 35-57, November 2018

Stevens G et al. Global, regional, and national trends in haemoglobin concentration and prevalence of total and severe anaemia in children and pregnant and non-pregnant women for 1995-2011: a systematic analysis of population-representative data
Lancet Global Health 2013, Vol 1:e16-25, July 2013

Andersson M, Karumbunathan V, Zimmermann MB. Global iodine status in 2011 and trends over the past decade.
Journal of Nutrition, 2012 vol 142(4):744-50, April 2012

van der Haar F et al. Universal salt iodization in the Central and Eastern Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS) Region during the decade 2000-09: Experiences, achievements, and lessons learned.
Food and Nutrition Bulletin, Public Health Nutrition, vol 32 (Supp 4), 173S-294S, December 2011

Zimmermann MB, Andersson M. Prevalence of iodine deficiency in Europe in 2010
Annales d'endocrinologie, 2011 vol 72(2):164-6, April 2011

Zimmermann MB. Symposium on 'Geographical and geological influences on nutrition' Iodine deficiency in industrialised countries.
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society (2010), 69, 133-143.

McLean E et al. Worldwide prevalence of anaemia, WHO Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System, 1993-2005
Public Health Nutrition, vol 23,1-11, May 2008

De Benoist B et al. Iodine deficiency in 2007: Global progress since 2003.
Food and Nutrition Bulletin, vol 29, no. 3, 195-202, September 2008

Andersson M et al. Current global iodine status and progress over the last decade towards the elimination of iodine deficiency.
Bulletin of the World Health Organization; 2005 Jul;83(7):518-25.

De Benoist B et al. Prevalence of iodine deficiency worldwide.
The Lancet; 2003 Nov 29;362(9398):1859-60.

Additional resources

Acknowledgements

WHO thanks the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s International Micronutrient Malnutrition Prevention and Control Program (IMMPaCt), the CDC National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Nutrition International (NI) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for their technical and financial support, and in the upgrade and expansion of the Micronutrients database.

WHO also acknowledges the hard work and collaboration of many individuals, institutions, governments, non-governmental, and international organizations to keep VMNIS information up to date. Special thanks are due to ministries of health of the WHO Member States, WHO regional offices, WHO country offices and partner organizations, particularly the WHO Collaborating Centre on Implementation Research in Nutrition and Global Policy in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University, the Iodine Global Network (IGN) and IZiNCG, in keeping the Micronutrients Database information up to date.

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Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System (VMNIS)

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The Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System (VMNIS), formerly known as the Micronutrient Deficiency Information System (MDIS), was established in 1991 following a request by the World Health Assembly to strengthen surveillance of micronutrient deficiencies at the global level.

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Students use computers to design theoretical experiments testing vitamin stability under different conditions (temperature, pH, light, oxygen). They create detailed protocols and predict outcomes based on chemical properties.

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Students select a common food product and develop a fortification strategy. They must consider chemical compatibility, stability, cost, and potential interactions while maintaining product quality. They present their proposals in a professional format.

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minerals mainly affected

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Students compare various supplement formulations available in the market. They create a database analyzing cost per unit of active ingredient, bioavailability of different forms, and presence of potential antagonistic combinations.

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Students develop digital tools to calculate vitamin and mineral losses during food storage and preparation. They incorporate factors such as temperature, time, pH, and exposure to light or air.

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Students research common anti-nutrients (phytates, oxalates, tannins) and their effects on mineral bioavailability. They create digital guides for food preparation methods that minimize anti-nutrient impacts.

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Using animation or presentation software, students create visual representations of vitamin and mineral cycles in the body, including absorption, transport, storage, and excretion mechanisms.