myfood24® | Our unique dataset

Why our Nutrient Database is Different

Created using robust methodologies

Initially developed by leading nutrition academics at the University of Leeds, the food and nutrient database underpinning myfood24 is accurate and reliable. Never crowd-sourced, each item goes through a rigorous quality-checking process as well as identifying and filling in nutrient gaps in source data, to provide an enhanced dataset. It includes official food composition tables in addition to branded food and drink products.

Complete Micronutrient Information

More than just a calorie counter, myfood24 provides detailed information on macronutrients, micronutrients and vitamins for up to 220 nutrients. Possible through a unique mapping process that populates micronutrients where other systems only have information on 8 macronutrients, to deliver a more complete picture of overall nutrient intakes.

Reflects Intakes of the Population

Our dataset is constantly expanding, in line with the growing variety of products available on supermarket shelves. As such we ensure our database is reflective and appropriate for the population it’s being used in.

International Datasets

Country	Description	Number of items	Nutrients available
United Kingdom	McCance and Widdowson 7th edition (2021)	3,334	117
United Kingdom	Branded items	115,574	117
United Kingdom	UK South Asian traditional dishes	82	117
Australia	AUS NUT 2011-2013	4,678	42
The Caribbean	USDA food tables and local foods	30,385	43
Denmark	Frida Fooddata v2	1,652	118
France	CIQUAL 2020	3,185	67
France	Branded items	12,113	67
Germany	BLS v3.02	7,234	140
Germany	LEBTAB	4,324	140
Middle East	Kuwaiti’s Composite Food Table, Food Composition Tables for Arab Gulf Countries, Food Composition for Use in the Middle East	2,214	117
Norway	Norwegian Food Composition Table (2018)	1,730	51
Peru	Peruvian National Food Composition Table	1,152	29
Uganda	Traditional foods and recipes	150	118
United States of America	USDA Generic items	14,770	220
West Africa	West African and Nigeria Food Composition Tables	887	56

Specialist Datasets

Country	Description	Number of items	Nutrients available
United Kingdom	Enteral feeds and foods for a medical purpose	1,391	55
United Kingdom	Dietary Supplements and vitamins	1,505	44
United Kingdom	Sustainability measures: greenhouse gas emissions, land use and water use	115,574	N/A
United Kingdom	Baby and infant foods	483	117
Denmark	Baby and infant foods	29	53
New Zealand	Baby and infant foods	221	111
Singapore	Baby and infant foods	626	51

A Novel Approach

Utilising a unique mapping process to provide more complete data

Going one step further than any other nutrient analysis software, the unique myfood24 datasets extend food composition tables to include branded products. Unlike any other software, myfood24 holds extensive macro- and micronutrient information on branded items, determined using a unique methodology.

To do this, we undertake a mapping exercise to match back-of-pack data from branded food products to nutrient data from food composition tables to provide information on missing micronutrient values such as B₆, B₁₂ and iron. This mapped database is unique to myfood24. No other system offers this.

A full quality control activity and additional database formatting is also performed to ensure the accuracy of the data and to enhance the searchability of the dataset.

Developing the initial myfood24 database took approximately 18 months to complete. Our team of dedicated experts are continually updating, expanding and improving our dataset to ensure it remains as accurate and up-to-date as possible.

The Result

A unique and comprehensive food and drink dataset

The result is a high quality dataset that is more nutritionally complete than other databases available. The myfood24 database meets the rigorous standards demanded by academic researchers, teaching and health professionals.

The dataset contains food and nutrient data from the following: food composition tables, manufacturers, fast food outlets and supermarket items.

Users of myfood24 can search for both generic and branded items from the substantial dataset. Accurate information on over 100 different nutrients is automatically gathered in ‘real time’.