This edition contains the following articles:

• Sample Food Record Form Now Available
• Updated: Guidelines for Resolving Missing Foods
• Did You Know? There are SAS files available to support analysis of NDSR output file data
• New Training Cancellation Policy

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Sample Food Record Form Now Available

 

As you may know, we have sample 24-hour dietary recall collection procedures on our Dietary Assessment Resources page that you may use as a starting point for your protocol development. We recently added a Sample Food Record Form in response to requests from clients for this type of resource. Both are general guidelines and should be tailored to fit each particular study’s needs. We hope these resources help you as you plan your upcoming studies.

 

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Updated: Guidelines for Resolving Missing Foods

 

The NCC Food and Nutrient Database is extensive, and our database scientists work steadfastly to add and update foods in our database for each release of NDSR. Nevertheless, due to the dynamic nature of the food marketplace and diversity of eating habits in the US, users may encounter “missing foods”, or foods reported by a study participant that cannot be found in the database. On our website are guidelines for resolving missing foods that may help you determine whether you want to resolve a missing food at your site or submit it to NCC as a New Food Request. Note that we’ve recently updated our suggested nutrient tolerances, including the suggestion that you compare nutrient values per serving instead of per 100 grams of product.

 

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Did You Know? There are SAS files available to support analysis of NDSR output file data

 

There are a number of additional files provided with the NDSR program that facilitate creating data files for analysis using SAS or Excel. The Additional Files folder is located in C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\NCC\NDSR 20YY\Additional Files.

 

In the ‘SAS Programs’ folder you will find files that help you create SAS data sets for all output files and for all record types. These files include code for assigning formats and labels to the SAS variables, and defining the relationships within a set of Output Files. They can be used as templates and modified according to your specific needs.

 

For instructions on how to create and view output files, see the section titled “Creating an Output File” in Chapter 8 of the NDSR User Manual.

 

For more details about the SAS program files and other “NDSR Additional Files” see Appendix 18 of the NDSR User Manual.

 

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New Training Cancellation Policy

 

A cancellation policy for those registering for our NDSR Training Workshops is now in place. We now require that you cancel or reschedule at least 12 days in advance in order to avoid being charged the full workshop cost. Please email NDSRtraining@umn.edu if you need to reschedule or cancel your registration. Our next training workshops are scheduled for April 7-8 and June 9-10 and are held from 9am to 5pm Central Time. Registration for the April training workshop will close on March 26^th, which is also the deadline for cancellation.

 

This edition contains the following articles:

• NCC Food and Nutrient Database being used for NIH Nutrition for Precision Health study
• Did you know? List of foods unique to various eating traditions
• NDSR licensing and annual support costs
• NDSR Training
• End-of-Year Holidays

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NCC Food and Nutrient Database being used for the Nutrition for Precision Health, powered by the All of Us Research Program

 

We know that a number of our clients are working on the NIH funded Nutrition for Precision Health (NPH) program, a groundbreaking project that will develop algorithms that predict individual responses to food and dietary patterns. The NCC Food and Nutrient database is being licensed for use in the NPH program, particularly for planning the menus for the controlled diets and for providing additional nutrients to the dietary recall data being collected using the Automated Self-Administered 24 recall (ASA24) dietary assessment tool. We’re proud to be providing food composition data to support this important research program.

 

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Did you know? List of foods unique to various eating traditions

 

NCC is committed to making NDSR a tool that supports equity and inclusion in nutrition research.  As resources have allowed, we have steadily worked to expand foods unique to various eating traditions included in our database.  Recently, we worked to add more foods unique to the eating traditions of Nigeria, Jamaica, Somalia, Haiti, and Hawaii.  Are you wondering if our database includes foods eaten by members of your study population? We have updated our list of foods unique to various eating traditions on our website, which you can view here.

 

Are there foods unique to the eating traditions of your study participants that you’d like to see added to NDSR? If so, please email us at NDSRhelp@umn.edu, and we will add them to our list of food requests.  You don’t need to wait for a client survey to let us know.  If you have funding for a special project and would like to partner with us to add a large number of foods unique to a certain eating tradition to our database, let us know!

 

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NDSR licensing and annual support costs

 

We know many of you are pressed financially due to limited NIH grant support. Some have asked if we could lower our prices in consideration of the lean times researchers are facing, and some have asked us to give discounts for certain projects. We wish we could, but we aren’t able to lower pricing at this time or for the foreseeable future, and out of fairness to all our clients we do not provide discounts.

 

NCC began 50 years ago with NIH funding, and some funding was continued to partially support maintenance and enhancement of NDSR. In 2014 that NIH funding was discontinued. Since then, we have relied exclusively on NDSR licensing and annual support, database licensing, and grants to support our work. We are proud of the work we are able to do with a small team, and we look forward to continuing to support nutrition research in the years to come. In order to ensure that we can do this, we must charge for use of NDSR and the NCC Food and Nutrient Database.

 

We hope this information is useful to you in understanding NDSR licensing and annual support costs.

 

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NDSR Training

 

The next NDSR Training Workshops are scheduled for January 13th and 14th, 2025 and mid-February, 2025 (exact dates TBD). Trainings are held via Zoom from 9am-5pm CT both days. Register here by January 1st if you are interested in the January training. The registration cutoff for the February training will be determined once the dates have been finalized. Space in the training workshops is limited and registration may close early if all seats fill before the cutoff date.

 

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End-of-Year Holidays

 

NCC will be closed on December 24, 25, 26, and January 1^st due to the University of Minnesota holidays. Please plan accordingly and check to see that you have access to any copies of NDSR you may want to use during that time. User Support services will not be available on those closure days to provide passwords or other troubleshooting support.

 

This edition contains the following articles:

• Introducing the NCC Forum
• New Foods in NDSR 2024
• NCC at Nutrient Databank Conference
• In Memory of Mary Stevens
• Price Increases – July 2024

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Introducing the Nutrition Coordinating Center Forum

 

We know the users of NDSR and the NCC Database have knowledge and valuable experience to share. That’s why we’re taking our community-building to a new level with the introduction of the Nutrition Coordinating Center Forum, a LinkedIn group where users can virtually meet and learn from one another’s experiences with the NDSR software and NCC Database files. The NCC Forum is an additional channel we are hosting to help foster connection within our community. It is NOT replacing the NCC website, ndsrhelp@umn.edu, or NCC News Bites.

 

The NCC forum is powered by you, our community. Please help make it a valuable place to share knowledge, skills, experience, and tips with one another through ongoing discussion.

 

For example, the NCC forum is a great place to:

• Chat with the community and share your NDSR experiences.
• Search past discussions for ideas and insights.
• Discuss features, protocols, and analysis plans.

 

You will need to create a LinkedIn account, if you do not already have one, to view or add posts and replies to the NCC Forum.

 

Then go to the Nutrition Coordinating Center Forum and click on the JOIN button. 

 

All requests to join and all new posts require NCC approval, which may take up to 1 business day.

 

Your participation counts – join today to connect, share, and learn.

 

 

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Fish Tacos, Jimmy John’s and more coming in NDSR 2024

 

Our database team has been working hard, as they do every year, to update the NCC Food and Nutrient Database that will be a part of NDSR 2024.  To highlight some of the many changes:

 

• Fish tacos with cabbage have been added, and taco options restructured
• Jimmy John’s has been added to our Fast Food restaurants
• More foods unique to Hawaiian eating traditions have been added
• Artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes have been updated
• Crackers have been updated
• Aguas frescas flavors have been expanded based on specific requests submitted through our client survey
• Arugula has been added as a variable ingredient option in salads
• Thousands of small yet important changes to nutrient values for foods have been made based on recent data from the USDA Foundation Foods Database and the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS) 2019-2020

 

We are excited to release the new database with NDSR 2024 this summer.

 

 

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NCC at the National Nutrient Databank Conference

 

NCC Director Dr. Lisa Harnack, and Database Scientist Jenny Stevenson will be representing NCC at the National Nutrient Databank Conference from May 21-23, 2024 in Ottawa, Canada and would welcome the opportunity to talk with you while you are there.  Dr. Harnack will also be giving two oral presentations—”Plant-based milk alternative products are highly heterogeneous in nutrient composition” and “Snack and Meal Replacement Bars Available in the U.S. Marketplace are Heterogeneous in Macronutrient Content”.

 

 

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In Memory of Mary Stevens

 

Those of you who have been in touch with NCC for a while may remember Mary Stevens who was the NCC Service Center Manager until she retired in 2011.  We are sad to share that she passed away on February 11th and a funeral was held in March. Her obituary is available at this link.  As Service Center Manager Mary facilitated dietary data collection and quality assurance work for countless studies, including complex important studies such as the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, INTERMAP, and the Primary Prevention of Obesity in North American Indians Study (Pathways). Mary put her all into supporting high quality dietary intake assessment for every project. She had the unique ability to work collaboratively to figure out solutions to practically any dietary assessment need or problem that arose. Also, she was a delightful person to work with. We remember Mary and honor all of her contributions to supporting nutrition research.

 

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Price Increases Coming July 2024

 

Effective July 1, 2024, licensing and annual support fees will increase by 2% in order to keep pace, in part, with current inflationary increases in expenses. The new pricing for NDSR licensing is as follows:

 

NDSR License – Initial Copy: $6,600 (increase of $120)

NDSR License – Additional Copy: $4,285 (increase of $85)

Annual Support – Initial Copy: $4,400 (increase of $85)

Annual Support – Additional Copy: $700 (increase of $15)

 

Note that a reinstatement fee applies for returning clients who have not maintained annual support.

 

Contact the NCC User Support team for any additional questions.

 

 

Email subject line:

News Bite: Announcing the NEW NCC Forum, plus Fish Tacos

 

This edition contains the following articles:

• HEI 2020 and HEI-Toddlers-2020
• Negative Nutrient Values
• NCC: Small But Mighty
• Who Funds NCC
• Thank You for Completing the Client Survey!

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HEI-2020 and HEI-Toddlers-2020

 

Now that the Healthy Eating Index-2020 (HEI-2020) is available, you may be interested in generating HEI 2020 scores for dietary intake data and/or menus in NDSR.  Fortunately, this is possible using existing NDSR output files because the HEI 2020 has the same index components and scoring criteria as the HEI 2015.  To elaborate, the working group tasked with updating the HEI to align with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans determined that no changes to the index were required aside from updating the name to ‘HEI 2020’.  Therefore, you can use the HEI 2015 output files from NDSR to generate the scores, as they will be equivalent to the HEI 2020 scores. 

 

The new Healthy Eating Index-Toddlers-2020 (HEI-Toddlers-2020) has the same index components as the HEI-2020 for children and adults 2 years of age and above, but the standards for calculating the HEI index component scores are different for the Toddler HEI. Therefore, you should not use the index component scores or total scores in the NDSR HEI 2015 output files.  However, you can use the contributing dietary constituents (e.g., ounce equivalents of whole grains, cup equivalents of dairy, etc.) found in the HEI output files to calculate component and total HEI-Toddlers-2020 scores.  Visit our website for more information on how to use NDSR to generate HEI scores.  

 

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Have You Seen Negative Nutrient Values in Your Output Files?

 

Occasionally we receive questions about negative nutrient values in NDSR output files, so this article aims to share some information about where you may find negative nutrient values and why. 

 

If you look in output file 01 (component/ingredient file), it is not uncommon to see negative nutrient values for components such as water, sodium, or potassium.  This is to be expected, as we may subtract these components when making formulations for multi-ingredients foods in the database.  For example, when making a fast food hamburger to match the nutrient values provided by the restaurant, we may add or subtract sodium.  You may also see negative nutrient values in file 01 if you have entered a negative amount in the record, or if you have entered a User Recipe that includes a negative amount (i.e. subtraction of salt or water). 

 

Negative nutrient values in file 02 (food file) are less common, but possible.  They are most likely due to an error made in creating a user recipe or a negative amount entered in the record.  If you enter a User Recipe that has a net negative nutrient value into a record, then you will see that negative nutrient value in file 02.  You can correct this by correcting the user recipe and entering the corrected user recipe into the record in place of the old one.  If you enter a negative amount for a food in a record, you will see the corresponding nutrients as negatives in file 02.  This could be due to an error in data entry, or it could be intentional and may not need to be corrected.  For example, if your study is looking at daily nutrient totals, and you used a negative amount to subtract lettuce from an NDSR sandwich that includes lettuce, then your daily totals would be correct and you would not need to make any changes. Another possibility is that you used the View Ingredient feature and pasted the ingredients of a mixed dish into an assembled food.  If the formulation you pasted included a negative amount (that would typically only be seen in file 01), it will now be present in file 02 because it is part of the assembled food.  You will have to determine on a case by case basis if the negative value in the assembled food is correct, depending on the changes you made to the ingredients.  If you see negative nutrient values in file 02 that are not due to a user recipe with negative nutrient value or a negative amount entered into the food tab, feel free to contact us.  In extremely rare cases, a negative value in file 02 could occur when restoring a dietary intake record from an older version of NDSR.  Contact NDSRhelp@umn.edu with questions.

 

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NCC: Small But Mighty

 

Many of the largest technology companies created their first successful products with teams of fewer than 10 people. The same is true for the Nutrition Coordinating Center. We have a small but mighty staff that maintains and updates the NDSR software and NCC Food and Nutrient database. Our team consists of 4 database scientists, 1 programmer, and 2 specialists providing user support and training to NDSR clients. Most members of the team wear multiple hats and every individual plays an important role in accomplishing NCC’s mission. NCC’s work is led by a small leadership team, including a part-time Director, a part-time Associate Director, and a Director of Operations.

 

In addition, we have a group of part-time and hourly employees, including undergraduate and graduate students, that collects and processes dietary recalls and food records for researchers. 

 

Could NCC do better if we had more staff? Yes! We are proud of what we have accomplished as a small team, but with a larger database scientist team we could further expand foods and nutrients in the NCC Food and Nutrient Database and keep values more up-to-date with the marketplace. Also, having a single programmer responsible for maintaining and updating NDSR and the in-house software used for maintaining and expanding the NCC Database is precarious and limiting. On an ongoing basis we are working to be in a financial position that allows us to expand our team in these critical areas.

 

A small team of A+ players can run circles around a giant team of B and C players – Steve Jobs  

 

Pictured Below: NCC Team Photo taken August 2023

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Who Funds NCC?

 

Nutrition Coordinating Center activities are primarily supported through the licensing and annual support fees paid by those using NDSR. Licensing of NCC Food and Nutrient database files to the scientific community and app developers is another major source of funds.

 

In addition, NCC receives revenue for providing NDSR-related support services, including the collection of 24-hour dietary recalls over the telephone and entry of food records and menus into NDSR. This work is carried out to support researchers who wish to outsource this work to us.

 

Occasionally NCC receives a grant or contract to support the addition of a specific nutrient or food component to the NCC Food and Nutrition Database. For example, gluten was added to our database thanks to funding from the American Gastroenterological Association Research Foundation through a partnership with Columbia University, and lignans was added thanks to NIH funding through a partnership with the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.

 

Publications directly related to the NCC Food and Nutrient Database are funded through internal University of Minnesota Nutrition Coordinating Center funds, unless otherwise stated in the publication acknowledgements.   

 

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Thank You for Completing the Client Survey!

 

Many thanks to all of you who completed the client survey in August!  Your input helps us improve NDSR and the NCC Food and Nutrient Database.  In fact, in response to what we learned from the survey our database scientist team is already busy making related improvements to the database for NDSR 2024. For example, ‘air frying’ (a type of convection cooking) is being added to the ‘baked or microwaved’ food preparation option in NDSR in response to what we learned from the survey.

 

You don’t have to wait for the next survey to provide feedback or request changes or improvements.  Reach out to NDSRhelp@umn.edu anytime with your suggestions.

 

 

 

 

This edition contains the following articles:

 

• Thank You for Completing the Survey
• Answer to Question Frequently Asked About Added Sugars Variables in NDSR Output Files
• Why Aren’t Regional Fast Food Chains or Non-Fast Food Restaurants Included in NDSR?
• Nutrition Evaluation of the Emergency Meals-to-You Program (eMTY)

 

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Thank You for Completing the Survey

 

Many thanks to those of you who completed our recent Client Survey! We are reviewing the results and your suggestions closely to help improve NDSR and our services. Some of the questions and requests that came in through the survey will be answered in future issues of the NCC News Bite. If you have any other questions about using NDSR, we invite you to email us at NDSRhelp@umn.edu anytime. We like hearing from you, and you don’t have to wait for the next survey to submit other questions. Our User Support team is available to help answer your questions.

 

 

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Answer to Question Frequently Asked About Added Sugars Variables in NDSR Output Files

 

NDSR includes two Added Sugars variables in the NDSR output files–Added Sugars (by Available Carbohydrate) and Added Sugars (by Total Sugars), and often we are asked to explain the difference between the two. So, here it is, starting with the general definition of Added Sugars.

 

Added Sugars are those sugars and syrups added to foods during food preparation or commercial food processing. Ingredients designated as “added sugar” foods in the NCC database include: white sugar (sucrose), brown sugar, powdered sugar, honey, molasses, pancake syrup, corn syrups, high fructose corn syrups, invert sugar, invert syrup, malt extract, malt syrup, fructose, glucose (dextrose), galactose, and lactose. They do not include mono- and disaccharides occurring naturally in foods, such as lactose in milk or fructose in fruit.

 

The Added Sugars (by Available Carbohydrate) value assigned by NCC to foods considered to be sources of added sugars represents the amount of available carbohydrate present in the food, which includes saccharides of all types. Mono- and disaccharides along with saccharides with a higher degree of polymerization that are resistant to digestion (e.g., trehalose) are included under this definition.

 

For example, corn syrups with different Dextrose Equivalency (DE) contain a high amount of trisaccharides and other higher saccharides (approximately 75%) due to the incomplete hydrolysis of the cornstarch. These more complex sugars are included under Added Sugars (by Available Carbohydrate).

 

The Added Sugars (by Total Sugars) value assigned by NCC to foods considered to be sources of added sugars represents the amount of total sugars present in the food, which includes only mono- and disaccharides. The Added Sugars (by Total Sugars) variable aligns with how this food component is defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Nutrition Fact labeling.

 

Do you have questions about other nutrients and food components in NDSR output files? Note that the NDSR User Manual includes detailed nutrient information in Appendix 11. Also, detailed information may be found on our website (definitions and units can be viewed by clicking on category titles).

 

 

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Why Aren’t Regional Fast Food Chains or Non-Fast Food Restaurants Included in NDSR?

 

The NCC Food and Nutrient Database currently includes menu items for 23 leading fast food restaurants. Nonetheless, we’re often asked why we don’t include more regional fast food chains or popular non-fast food restaurants in the database. The answer to this question primarily relates to resource constraints, as adding and updating restaurant menu items is labor intensive. Also, in some cases information needed to add menu items to our database are lacking (e.g. restaurant does not provide ingredient listing or basic nutrient content information for menu items).

 

To assist you with data entry of foods reported from regional fast food chains and non-fast food restaurants that aren’t found in the database, we suggest you look for a close match in the database, either generically (from the mixed dish, sandwich, or salad hierarchy) or from a restaurant that we do have. Examples are 1) if a Starbucks grande café latte is reported – look for the generic café latte and choose the appropriate FSU; 2) the Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad – look in the salad hierarchy for the Asian chicken salad; 3) a Carl’s Jr. hamburger – choose the Hardee’s hamburger; and 4) for a blooming onion – enter as ‘onion rings’ and have the participant estimate it as a portion of onion rings. For foods that are reported often, and for which there isn’t a database option that fits your needs, you can submit it for a New Food Resolution and note under “Other Information” that you would like the food considered for addition to the database. Please feel free to contact User Support at NDSRhelp@umn.edu if you have any additional suggestions for generic restaurant food items to add to the database.

 

 

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Nutrition Evaluation of the Emergency Meals-to-You Program (eMTY)

 

NCC was pleased to carry out an analysis of the nutritional quality of meals delivered to rural children in households with lower income as part of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Emergency Meals-to-You (eMTY) program. Over the summer of 2020 the eMTY program provided over 37 million meals to 275,000 rural children in 43 states through home-delivered boxes of shelf-stable food. The program was run by the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty in partnership with Chartwells K12, PepsiCo Food for Good, and McLane Global. Every two weeks, a box containing food for 10 breakfasts and 10 lunches—enough for two weeks—was delivered to the student’s home or to a centralized location when necessary. The meals were to be planned to meet the USDA Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) nutrition standards. Results of the nutrition evaluation of the eMTY program are available. Click here for the full report, or download the executive summary here.

 

Do you have menus that need to be evaluated for nutritional quality? NCC Research Services is available to conduct menu analysis through our Menu Analysis service. Contact Kerrin Brelje at kbrelje@umn.edu for more information or a price quote.

 

This edition contains the following articles:

 

• NDSR 2022 is available!
• Use the ‘restore’ feature in NDSR 2022 to obtain HEI output files for dietary data entered in past versions of NDSR
• Another NDSR Training Opportunity
• New Foods

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NDSR 2022 is available!

 

We want to make sure that everyone knows that NDSR 2022 is now available!  If your annual support is current, the primary account holder at your institution should have received an email with a link to download the newest version of NDSR.  If you haven’t already, we highly recommend upgrading to NDSR 2022, as we have made program improvements and added new foods. Highlights include the addition of Healthy Eating Index (HEI) reports and output data files to NDSR 2022. The new HEI 2015 output data are available for dietary recall, food record, and menu record types. One of the files provides the HEI total scores, component scores, and contributing dietary constituents at the intake record or menu level, and the other provides these variables at the meal level. Menu planners may find the HEI reports useful as a quick way of evaluating the extent to which planned menus align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

 

For tips on upgrading, see our FAQ page and click on ‘Upgrading’.  If you did not receive an email with an upgrade link, contact NDSRHelp@umn.edu.

 

If you are not a currently supported client and want access to NDSR 2022, email NDSRHelp@umn.edu for pricing and other details on reinstating support.

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Use the ‘restore’ feature in NDSR 2022 to obtain HEI output files for dietary data entered in past versions of NDSR

Projects that were created in NDSR 2013 or a subsequent version of the program using the record types: Recall, Record, and Record-assisted Recall may be restored in NDSR 2022 to obtain HEI 2015 output files. All editing of foods and amounts entered into these record types must be done in the database version used to create them. Make sure to complete all editing of foods and amounts before restoring intake record projects to NDSR 2022.

Once the project has been restored into NDSR 2022, the HEI project and record reports and HEI output files may be generated.  You can generate the HEI reports and the output files on the project as you restored it, or you can move some or all of the records from the restored project into another project to combine them with records generated in other versions of NDSR.   For more information on backing up projects and restoring projects into a newer version of NDSR, see Chapter 9 in the NDSR User Manual or the FAQ on our website under the heading Tips using NDSR.

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Another NDSR Training Opportunity

 

We have added another NDSR Training Workshop on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 30-31 due to high demand. Register here by August 22 if you are interested in this Zoom training. If the limited seats in the training are filled, registration will close early. 

 

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New Foods

 

The following new foods are available to you at no additional charge 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, “August 2022”.

• BodyArmor Sports Drink – Blue Raspberry
• Jimmy Dean Pancake and Sausage on a Stick
• Post Premier Protein Mixed Berry Almond Cereal
• Ripple Kids Plant Based Milk – Original
• Nature’s Path Love Crunch Granola – Apple Chia
• Whisps Parmesan Cheese Crisps
• Dot’s Pretzels
• Caulipower Pizza – Margherita