Foods data formats

Foods are of interest in (dietary) consumption assessments and the sources of exposure within exposure assessments. The foods table is the main table of the food definitions. Relevant food related data, such as processing types, additional properties (e.g., unit weight and brand loyalty), facets, and hierarchies, can be described in the food properties, food hierarchies, and faces and facet descriptors tables.

Foods

Each food is identified by a unique code (idFood) in a code system of choice, a name, and a description. In the EuroMix data collection, FoodEx1 codes are used for both foods in consumption surveys (foods as eaten) and for raw agricultural commodities (foods-as-measured). Example: ‘A.19.01.002.002’ is pizza and pizza-like pies, cheese, and vegetables and ‘A.01.02.001’ is wheat grain. Food codes can have a hierarchical structure (as in the FoodEx1 and FoodEx2 coding systems), using ‘.’ or ‘$’ as separator between adjacent hierarchical levels, e.g. ‘A.05’ is fruits and fruit products, ‘A.05.01’ is citrus fruits, and ‘A.05.01.001’ is grapefruit (citrus paradisi). Additional forms of foods, such as foods in processed form, can be specified via food facets according to the FoodEx2 system of EFSA.

Table aliases: Foods, Food.

Table 3 Table definition for Foods.
Name Type Description Aliases Required

idFood

AlphaNumeric(50)

The unique identification code of the food.

idFood, Code, FoodId, FoodCode, Food, Id

Yes

Name

AlphaNumeric(100)

The name of the food.

Name, FoodName, Name1, FoodName1

No

Description

AlphaNumeric(200)

Food description.

Description

No

Food properties

Additional food properties, such as portion sizes can be attached using the food properties table.

Table aliases: FoodProperties, FoodProperty.

Table 4 Table definition for Food properties.
Name Type Description Aliases Required

idFood

AlphaNumeric(50)

The code of the food to which the property is attached. The provided food code should match with a code of the foods table.

idFood, FoodId, Food, FoodCode, Code

Yes

Food unit weights

Food unit weights as specified for a food, and possibly a location.

Table aliases: FoodUnitWeights, UnitWeights.

Table 5 Table definition for Food unit weights.
Name Type Description Aliases Required

idFood

AlphaNumeric(50)

The unique identification code of the food.

idFood, Code, FoodId, FoodCode, Food, Id

Yes

Location

AlphaNumeric(50)

The location for which this food unit weight is defined. If not specified, then the value is considered a default unit weight that can be used when there is no location specific unit weight.

Location

No

ValueType

UnitWeightValueType

The value type of the unit weight value (i.e., raw agricultural commodity or edible portion). Controlled terminology.

ValueType, UnitWeightValueType

No

Qualifier

ValueQualifier

Qualifier of the unit weight value, e.g. equal-to (=) or smaller-than (<). If omitted, = is assumed.

Qualifier, QualifierType

No

Value

Numeric

Unit weight value in grams.

Value, UnitWeightValue, UnitWeight

Yes

Reference

AlphaNumeric(200)

External reference(s) to source of the unit weight value.

Reference, References

No

Food hierarchies

Food items are commonly categorised in hierarchies, e.g. oranges and mandarins are citrus fruits. For example FoodEx is a food description and food classification (FDFC) system consisting of a large number of individual food items aggregated into food groups and broader food categories in a hierarchical structure of parent-child relationships.

Table aliases: FoodHierarchies, FoodHierarchy, FoodsHierarchy.

Table 6 Table definition for Food hierarchies.
Name Type Description Aliases Required

idFood

AlphaNumeric(50)

Food node.

idFood, FoodId, Food, Code

Yes

idParent

AlphaNumeric(50)

Parent node of the food.

idParent, ParentId, Parent, ParentCode

Yes

Facets

Food codes can be linked to facets, as e.g. in FoodEx2. FoodEx2 is a comprehensive food classification and description system aimed at covering the need to describe food in data collections across different food safety domains. See the EFSA catalogue browser for facets currently used e.g. the facet to describe processing technology is: F28 process.

Table aliases: Facets, Facet, FoodFacets, FoodFacet.

Table 7 Table definition for Facets.
Name Type Description Aliases Required

idFacet

AlphaNumeric(10)

The food code of the food to which the facet is attached.

idFacet, Code, Id, FacetCode, FacetId

Yes

Name

AlphaNumeric(200)

Facet name

Name, FacetName

No

Description

AlphaNumeric(200)

Additional description of the facet.

Description

No

Facet descriptors

Facet descriptors are elements of additional information on a facet such as processing.

Table aliases: FacetDescriptors, FacetDescriptor, FoodFacetDescriptors, FoodFacetDescriptor.

Table 8 Table definition for Facet descriptors.
Name Type Description Aliases Required

idFacetDescriptor

AlphaNumeric(10)

The identification code of the facet descriptor.

idFacetDescriptor, Code, Id, FacetCode, FacetId

Yes

Name

AlphaNumeric(200)

The name of the facet descriptor.

Name, FacetDescriptorName

No

Description

AlphaNumeric(200)

Additional description of the facet descriptor.

Description

No

Processing types

Table aliases: ProcessingTypes, ProcessingType.

Table 9 Table definition for Processing types.
Name Type Description Aliases Required

idProcessingType

AlphaNumeric(50)

The unique identification code of the processing type.

idProcessingType, ProcessingTypeId, ProcType, Id

Yes

Name

AlphaNumeric(100)

The processing name.

ProcName, Name

No

Description

AlphaNumeric(200)

The processing type description.

Description

No

DistributionType

ProcessingDistributionType

The distribution type. Simulated processing factors are restricted to the interval (0,1) using a logistic-normal distribution (default) or simulated processing factors are restricted to positive values using a log-normal distribution.

DistributionType, DistType

No

BulkingBlending

Boolean

For types of processing applied on large batches, e.g., juicing, sauce/puree. Default is no bulking blending.

BulkingBlending, BulkBlending, IsBulkBlending

No

Food consumption quantifications

Food consumption quantifications record information about food consumption quantities that are associated with unit-consumptions of foods.

Table aliases: FoodConsumptionQuantifications, FoodConsumptionQuantification.

Table 10 Table definition for Food consumption quantifications.
Name Type Description Aliases Required

idFood

AlphaNumeric(50)

The food code of the quantification.

idFood, FoodId, Food

Yes

idUnit

AlphaNumeric(50)

The code of the unit of consumption. E.g spoon, plate, cup. Units may depend on food.

idUnit, UnitId, Unit

Yes

UnitWeight

Numeric

The unit weight/portion size of the food, specified in grams.

UnitWeight

Yes

UnitWeightUncertainty

Numeric

The uncertainty in unit weight/portion size (%).

UnitWeightUncertainty, UnitWeight%

No

AmountUncertainty

Numeric

The uncertainty in amount consumed (%). The label ‘general’ specifies a default value for the uncertainty when specific information for combinations of food and unit in food consumptions table is not available.

AmountUncertainty, Amount%

No