Review

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2007) 61, 1037–1056; doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602679; published online 21 March 2007

The EPIC nutrient database project (ENDB): a first attempt to standardize nutrient databases across the 10 European countries participating in the EPIC study

Guarantor: N Slimani.

Contributors: NS was the overall coordinator of the ENDB project and in charge of the preparation of the paper in collaboration with the other co-authors. GD, JV, GS, SS, MP, IU, DATS, NS were members of the 'task force group' involving specific managerial or technical tasks for the project and/or the preparation of reference ENDB guidelines. IU was also in charge of the development of the DBMS in collaboration with the coordinating centre. SS, MP, PG, AM, JI, WB, AF, SW, EV, JU, SC and AB were involved as the national compilers in charge of documenting, compiling and evaluating the subset of their national nutrient databases used in the ENDB project. AM, JI, WB and IU were also involved as members of the 'ENDB expert group' headed by DATS, in charge of revising the reference ENDB guidelines. MN, MCB-R, CS, AT, SN, IM, JR, HB, MO, PHMP, PJ, PA, DE, EL, MS de M, AT, KG, CS, SR, AW, SB were involved as local EPIC collaborators in the supervision and preparation of EPIC-specific databases relevant to the ENDB project (e.g. recipe files). CC and MvB, at the coordinating centre, were involved in tasks relevant to these EPIC databases. AFS has provided long-standing scientific collaboration and support for setting up the ENDB. ER is the overall coordinator of the EPIC study. All co-authors provided comments and suggestions on the manuscript.

N Slimani1, G Deharveng1, I Unwin2, D A T Southgate3, J Vignat1, G Skeie4, S Salvini5, M Parpinel6, A Møller7, J Ireland8, W Becker9, A Farran10, S Westenbrink11, E Vasilopoulou12, J Unwin2, Å Borgejordet13, S Rohrmann14, S Church15, P Gnagnarella16, C Casagrande1, M van Bakel1, M Niravong17, M C Boutron-Ruault17, C Stripp18, A Tjønneland18, A Trichopoulou12, K Georga12, S Nilsson19, I Mattisson9, J Ray20, H Boeing20, M Ocké21, P H M Peeters22, P Jakszyn23, P Amiano24, D Engeset4, E Lund4, M Santucci de Magistris25, C Sacerdote26, A Welch27, S Bingham28, A F Subar29 and E Riboli30

  1. 1Nutrition and Hormones Group, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
  2. 2Ian D Unwin Food Information Consultancy, Over, Cambridge, UK
  3. 3University of Norwich, Norwich, Norfolk, UK
  4. 4Institute of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tromsø, Norway
  5. 5Molecular and Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, Centro per lo Studio e la Prevenzione Oncologica (CSPO), Scientific Institute of Tuscany, Florence, Italy
  6. 6Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
  7. 7Danish Institute for Food and Veterinary Research, Søborg, Denmark
  8. 8French Food Safety and Agency, CIQUAL/DERNS/PASER, Information Centre for Food Quality, AFSSA, Maisons-Alfort, France
  9. 9Information and Nutrition Department, Swedish National Food Administration, Uppsala, Sweden
  10. 10Centre for Superior Studies in Nutrition and Dietetics (CESNID-UB), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
  11. 11Department of Food and Chemical Risk Analysis, TNO Quality of Life / NEVO Foundation, Zeist, Netherlands
  12. 12Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece
  13. 13Norwegian Food Safety Authority, Oslo, Norway
  14. 14Division of Clinical Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
  15. 15Nutrition Division, Food Standards Agency, London, UK
  16. 16Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy
  17. 17INSERM U XR 521, Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France
  18. 18Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark
  19. 19Department of Nutritional Research, University of Umeå, Umeå, Sweden
  20. 20Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition, Potsdam-Rehbruëcke, Germany
  21. 21Centre for Nutrition and Health, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands
  22. 22Department of Epidemiology, Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands
  23. 23Unit of Nutrition, Environment and Cancer, Department of Epidemiology and Cancer Registry, Institut Catala d' Oncologia, (ICO-IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain
  24. 24Sub-Direction, Public Health Department of Gipuzkoa, Health Department of the Basque Country, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
  25. 25Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Federico II University, Naples, Italy
  26. 26Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, University of Turin and CPO Piemonte, Turin, Italy
  27. 27Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
  28. 28Department of Public Health and Primary Care, MRC Centre for Nutritional Epidemiology in Cancer Prevention and Survival (CNC), Cambridge, UK
  29. 29Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
  30. 30Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Imperial College, London, UK

Correspondence: Dr N Slimani, IARC-WHO, 150 cours Albert-Thomas, 69372 Lyon cedex 08, France. E-mail: Slimani@iarc.fr

Received 27 April 2006; Revised 2 January 2007; Accepted 4 January 2007; Published online 21 March 2007.

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Abstract

Objective:

 

This paper describes the ad hoc methodological concepts and procedures developed to improve the comparability of Nutrient databases (NDBs) across the 10 European countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). This was required because there is currently no European reference NDB available.

Design:

 

A large network involving national compilers, nutritionists and experts on food chemistry and computer science was set up for the 'EPIC Nutrient DataBase' (ENDB) project. A total of 550–1500 foods derived from about 37 000 standardized EPIC 24-h dietary recalls (24-HDRS) were matched as closely as possible to foods available in the 10 national NDBs. The resulting national data sets (NDS) were then successively documented, standardized and evaluated according to common guidelines and using a DataBase Management System specifically designed for this project. The nutrient values of foods unavailable or not readily available in NDSs were approximated by recipe calculation, weighted averaging or adjustment for weight changes and vitamin/mineral losses, using common algorithms.

Results:

 

The final ENDB contains about 550–1500 foods depending on the country and 26 common components. Each component value was documented and standardized for unit, mode of expression, definition and chemical method of analysis, as far as possible. Furthermore, the overall completeness of NDSs was improved (greater than or equal to99%), particularly for beta-carotene and vitamin E.

Conclusion:

 

The ENDB constitutes a first real attempt to improve the comparability of NDBs across European countries. This methodological work will provide a useful tool for nutritional research as well as end-user recommendations to improve NDBs in the future.

Keywords:

nutrient databases, EPIC, standardization, 24-h dietary recall, food composition tables, ENDB

Abbreviations:

EPIC, European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition; ENDB, EPIC Nutrient Database; NDB, Nutrient Database; NDS, National datasets; DBMS, DataBase Management System; 24-HDR, 24-hour diet recall

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