Large Iodine Variability in Retail Cows' Milk in the U.S.: A Follow-Up Study among Different Retail Outlets.

In a previous study, large variability in iodine content was found among samples of store brand retail milk at a single time point in a sampling taken from 24 nationwide U.S. locations for the USDA FoodData Central database, but the sampling plan was not designed to detect differences among locations.

Iodine in Foods and Dietary Supplements: A Collaborative Database Developed by NIH, FDA and USDA.

Data on the iodine content of foods and dietary supplements are needed to develop general population intake estimates and identify major contributors to intake. Samples of seafood, dairy products, eggs, baked products, salts, tap water, other foods and beverages, and dietary supplements were collected according to established sampling plans of the U.S.

Large Variability of Iodine Content in Retail Cow's Milk in the U.S.

Iodine intake is of contemporary public health interest. The recommended daily iodine intake is 150 µg for most adults, and milk is an important source of iodine in the U.S.

Comparison of Label and Laboratory Sodium Values in Popular Sodium-Contributing Foods in the United States.

Background: Nutrition labels are important tools for consumers and for supporting public health strategies. Recent, published comparison of label and laboratory sodium values for US foods, and differences by brand type (national or private-label) or source (store or restaurant [fast-food and sit-down]) is unavailable.

Objective: The objective was to compare label and laboratory values for sodium and related nutrients (ie, total sugars, total fat, and saturated fat) in popular, sodium-contributing foods, and examine whether there are differences by brand type, and source.

A Research Communication Brief: Gluten Analysis in Beef Samples Collected Using a Rigorous, Nationally Representative Sampling Protocol Confirms That Grain-Finished Beef Is Naturally Gluten-Free.

Knowing whether or not a food contains gluten is vital for the growing number of individuals with celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Questions have recently been raised about whether beef from conventionally-raised, grain-finished cattle may contain gluten. To date, basic principles of ruminant digestion have been cited in support of the prevailing expert opinion that beef is inherently gluten-free.

Analytical ingredient content and variability of adult multivitamin/mineral products: national estimates for the Dietary Supplement Ingredient Database.

Background: Multivitamin/mineral products (MVMs) are the dietary supplements most commonly used by US adults. During manufacturing, some ingredients are added in amounts exceeding the label claims to compensate for expected losses during the shelf life. Establishing the health benefits and harms of MVMs requires accurate estimates of nutrient intake from MVMs based on measures of actual rather than labeled ingredient amounts.

Interlaboratory Trial for Measurement of Vitamin D and 25-Hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in Foods and a Dietary Supplement Using Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.

Assessment of total vitamin D intake from foods and dietary supplements (DSs) may be incomplete if 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] intake is not included. However, 25(OH)D data for such intake assessments are lacking, no food or DS reference materials (RMs) are available, and comparison of laboratory performance has been needed. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate whether vitamin D3 and 25(OH)D3 concentrations in food and DS materials could be measured with acceptable reproducibility.

Sodium content of popular commercially processed and restaurant foods in the United States.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide baseline estimates of sodium levels in 125 popular, sodium-contributing, commercially processed and restaurant foods in the U.S., to assess future changes as manufacturers reformulate foods.

Sodium monitoring in commercially processed and restaurant foods.

Background: Most sodium in the US diet comes from commercially processed and restaurant foods. Sodium reduction in these foods is key to several recent public health efforts.

Objective: The objective was to provide an overview of a program led by the USDA, in partnership with other government agencies, to monitor sodium contents in commercially processed and restaurant foods in the United States.

Including food 25-hydroxyvitamin D in intake estimates may reduce the discrepancy between dietary and serum measures of vitamin D status.

The discrepancy between the commonly used vitamin D status measures-intake and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations--has been perplexing. Sun exposure increases serum 25(OH)D concentrations and is often used as an explanation for the higher population-based serum concentrations in the face of apparently low vitamin D intake. However, sun exposure may not be the total explanation.

A structured vocabulary for indexing dietary supplements in databases in the United States.

Food composition databases are critical to assess and plan dietary intakes. Dietary supplement databases are also needed because dietary supplements make significant contributions to total nutrient intakes. However, no uniform system exists for classifying dietary supplement products and indexing their ingredients in such databases.

Progress in developing analytical and label-based dietary supplement databases at the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements.

Although an estimated 50% of adults in the United States consume dietary supplements, analytically substantiated data on their bioactive constituents are sparse. Several programs funded by the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) at the National Institutes of Health enhance dietary supplement database development and help to better describe the quantitative and qualitative contributions of dietary supplements to total dietary intakes. ODS, in collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture, is developing a Dietary Supplement Ingredient Database (DSID) verified by chemical analysis.

Dietary supplement ingredient database (DSID): Preliminary USDA studies on the composition of adult multivitamin/mineral supplements.

The Nutrient Data Laboratory of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is collaborating with the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), and other government agencies to design and populate a dietary supplement ingredient database (DSID). This analytically based, publicly available database will provide reliable estimates of vitamin and mineral content of dietary supplement (DS) products. The DSID will initially be populated with multivitamin/mineral (MVM) products because they are the most commonly consumed supplements.

The caffeine contents of dietary supplements commonly purchased in the US: analysis of 53 products with caffeine-containing ingredients.

As part of a study initiating the development of an analytically validated Dietary Supplement Ingredient Database (DSID) in the United States (US), a selection of dietary supplement products were analyzed for their caffeine content. Products sold as tablets, caplets, or capsules and listing at least one caffeine-containing ingredient (including botanicals such as guarana, yerba mate, kola nut, and green tea extract) on the label were selected for analysis based on market share information. Two or three lots of each product were purchased and analyzed using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Measuring vitamins and minerals in dietary supplements for nutrition studies in the USA.

This article illustrates the importance of having analytical data on the vitamin and mineral contents of dietary supplements in nutrition studies, and describes efforts to develop an analytically validated dietary supplement ingredient database (DSID) by a consortium of federal agencies in the USA. Preliminary studies of multivitamin mineral supplements marketed in the USA that were analyzed as candidates for the DSID are summarized. Challenges are summarized, possible future directions are outlined, and some related programs at the Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health are described.