Nutrition analysis refers to the process of determining the
nutrition
Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficient n ...
al content of
food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...
s and food products. The process can be performed through a variety of certified methods.
Methods
Laboratory analysis
Traditionally, food companies would send
food samples to laboratories for physical testing. Typical analyses include:
* moisture (water) by loss of mass at 102 °C
* protein by analysis of total nitrogen, either by
Dumas or
Kjeldahl method
The Kjeldahl method or Kjeldahl digestion () in analytical chemistry is a method for the quantitative determination of nitrogen contained in organic substances plus the nitrogen contained in the inorganic compounds ammonia and ammonium (NH3/NH4+). ...
s
* total fat, traditionally by a solvent extraction, but often now by secondary methods such as NMR
*
crude ash
In the context of nutrition, a mineral is a chemical element required as an essential nutrient by organisms to perform functions necessary for life. However, the four major structural elements in the human body by weight (oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, ...
(total inorganic matter) by combustion at 550 °C
* estimated
dietary fibre
Dietary fiber (in British English fibre) or roughage is the portion of plant-derived food that cannot be completely broken down by human digestive enzymes. Dietary fibers are diverse in chemical composition, and can be grouped generally by the ...
by various
AOAC methods such as 985.29
* sodium (and thereby salt) either by flame photometry, AA or ICP-OES;
* total sugars, normally by a liquid chromatography technique, such as IC-HPAED or HPLC-RI;
*
fatty acid
In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an unbranched chain of an even number of carbon atoms, fr ...
s by GC-FID.
Carbohydrates and energy values are normally calculated from these analytical values.
Software
Software is available as an alternative to laboratory nutrition analysis. This software typically utilizes a database of ingredients that have previously been laboratory tested. The user can input ingredient data by matching their ingredients to ingredients found in the database; the analysis can then be calculated.
Online nutrition analysis
In recent years, web-based nutrition analysis software services have become more popular. Online nutrition analysis allows users to access online databases and draw from certified ingredients to produce instant nutrition information.
Turnkey nutrition analysis services
Another emerging trend is the use of nutritional analysis services that do a complete analysis of any recipe by using their proprietary database. Users provide recipes, cooking methods and serving sizes. In turn, the service provides a complete nutritional analysis.
Applications
In the United States, nutrition information is required on packaged retail foods in the form of nutrition facts panels as a result of
food labeling regulations
The packaging and labeling of food is subject to regulation in most regions/jurisdictions, both to prevent false advertising and to promote food safety.
Regulations by type
Multi-faceted
* Codex Alimentarius (international voluntary standard) ...
. In recent years, many restaurants have begun posting nutrition information as a result of both customer demand and menu-labeling laws.
Nutrition facts label
Menu-labeling
The
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presi ...
, signed into law March 23, 2010, includes a provision that creates a national, uniform nutrition-disclosure standard for food service establishments.
The nutrition-disclosure provision requires chain restaurants, similar retail food establishments and vending machines with 20 or more locations to provide specific nutrition labeling information. Those establishments must post calories on menus, menu boards and drive-thru boards. Buffets, salad bars and other self-service items are also included and will be required to provide caloric information adjacent to the item.
Recently many state and local menu-labeling laws have been passed requiring restaurants to post nutrition information on menus and menu boards, or have it readily available upon customer request. Restaurants have had to perform nutrition analysis in order to generate nutrition information and conform to these laws. More recently national legislation has been introduced that would set a national standard for menu labeling, the most popular of which is the
LEAN act
Lean, leaning or LEAN may refer to:
Business practices
* Lean thinking, a business methodology adopted in various fields
** Lean construction, an adaption of lean manufacturing principles to the design and construction process
** Lean governmen ...
.
Animal feed
The reported analysis of animal feed typically uses raw values from laboratory results, commonly listing the moisture content, crude fat, crude protein, crude ash, fibers, and net energy. Some nutritionally-important values such as chloride, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, and copper may also be reported.
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References
Food law
Health policy in the United States
Nutrition
Examining Customers' Intention and Attitude Towards Reading Restaurants' Menu Labels by Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour