NCC News Bite – February 2026

Newsletter
 

This edition contains the following articles:

Coming in NDSR 2026

 

We hope you have been enjoying the new foods, nutrients, and features of NDSR 2025 and the 2025 NCC Food and Nutrient Database. In the meantime we have been hard at work on NDSR 2026 and the 2026 Food and Nutrient Database, which we expect to release in late summer 2026. 

 

NDSR 2026 will include a frequently requested feature—a Healthy Eating Index (HEI) output file that provides HEI total and component scores across records, using the same calculation as the HEI Across Records Report.  In the 2026 Food and Nutrient Database, you’ll see many updates to foods in the database including updates to chips and other snack foods, soups, and Enfamil and store brand infant formulas.     

 

Notice of Bug in NDSR 2024 and NDSR 2025 When Using Multiple Customizable Meal or Food Fields

 

We have discovered an output file bug in NDSR 2024 and NDSR 2025 with the Customizable Data Fields for foods and meals.  If you do not use the customizable meal and food data fields, or if you only use one of each customizable field at the food or meal level, then your data will not be impacted by this bug.

 

If you are using more than one customizable field for foods or meals, the data for the customizable fields may be displayed out of order in your output files.  You may not notice that the responses are in a different order, especially if the response options are the same for one or more questions.  However, please note the customizable field descriptors are correctly aligned with the responses in the output files, so you can look at the field descriptor columns to determine if the order of your data has been affected. Let us know if you have questions about whether or not this bug could be affecting your work by emailing us at NDSRhelp@umn.edu. 

 

We are working on a new release of NDSR 2025 that will be sent to the primary contact for each group licensing NDSR 2025 as soon as it is ready.  If you aren’t the primary contact for your institution and you utilize more than one customizable field at the food and meal levels, you may want to let them know to watch for an email from NCC in the coming weeks.  If you have a time sensitive need for your data to be rerun in the fixed version, reach out to NDSRhelp@umn.edu as we may be able to generate the output files for you in the meantime.  Clients using more than one customizable field for foods or meals who were using NDSR 2024 but do not have a current license for NDSR 2025 should also contact NDSRhelp@umn.edu.

 

Join Us at the National Nutrient Databank Conference (NNDC) in April!

 

Dr. Lisa Harnack, NCC’s Director, and Dr. Bhas Jasthi, one of our Database Scientists, will be at the NNDC conference being held in Washington DC in April.  We have submitted abstracts and hope to be either giving a presentation or sharing a poster there.  Registration for the NNDC conference is now open!


NDSR Training: Now Available with Part Asynchronous Content

 

In case you missed our announcement in November, we wanted to let you know that we’ve changed our NDSR Training format. Now we have two training options—an asynchronous training course, and an option to complete the asynchronous training plus a four-hour live interviewing practice session on Zoom.  The asynchronous course alone may be a good option for anyone who wants to learn about NDSR but won’t be collecting 24-hour dietary recalls themselves (e.g., PIs, coordinators, and supervisors as well as anyone that will be using the software for menu planning, recipe analysis, or food record entry).  The asynchronous course plus the live interviewing practice workshop is recommended for those who will be using NDSR to collect 24-hour dietary recalls, conduct Quality Assurance, or just want a deeper understanding of how NDSR works. 

 

Please see our Training and Certification page for more information.  Registration is now open, and we recommend that you register 1-2 weeks ahead of when you want to start the asynchronous course to ensure that you have access to the course and other training materials.  Questions? Contact NDSRtraining@umn.edu. 

 

New Foods

 

The following new foods are available with this edition of the NCC News Bite. A New Foods Backup File is available for download on our website under New Food Backup Files, “February 2026”.

  • Bloom Nutrition Sparkling Energy Drink – Raspberry Lemon
  • Celsius Sparkling Energy Drink – Strawberry Passionfruit
  • Cheerios Protein Cereal – Strawberry
  • Cheerios Veggie Blends Cereal – Apple Strawberry
  • Fairlife Nutrition Plan 30g Protein Shake – Chocolate
  • Kodiak Protein Packed Chewy Granola Bar – Chocolate Chip
  • Perfect High Protein Bar – Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
  • Starbucks Refresher – Strawberry Acai