Missing nutrient values for foods are kept to a minimum by gathering food composition data from a variety of sources and imputing values following standardized procedures.

A missing nutrient value is allowed only if:

• the amount of that nutrient in the food is believed to be negligible
• the food is usually eaten in small amounts
• it is unknown whether the nutrient exists in the food
• it is not possible to estimate the value because the food is unlike any other.

The Completeness table shows the percent of Core Foods in the 2023 version of the NCC Food and Nutrient Database with values provided for various nutrients and food components (‘Complete’ column). For example, the table shows that energy values are provided for all (100%) of the Core Foods in the database.
To summarize, all of the nutrients are 99-100% complete except for pectin (92%).
 
The table also indicates the percentage of foods with values that were imputed (‘Estimated’ column). For example, the table shows that energy values were estimated for 6% of the Core Foods in the database.

 

In future database versions, estimated values will be replaced by analytic values as they become available.