Food composition databases for effective quality nutritional care Barbara Koroušic ´ Seljak a,⇑ , Vekoslava Stibilj a , Larisa Pograjc b , Nataša Fidler Mis c , Evgen Benedik c a Computer Systems Department, Joz ˇef Stefan Institute, Jamova cesta 39, SI-Ljubljana, Slovenia b Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia, Vojkova c. 55, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia c Dietetics and Nutrition Unit, University Children’s Hospital, University Medical Centre, Bohoric ˇeva 20, SI-1525 Ljubljana, Slovenia article info Article history: Available online xxxx Keywords: Nutrient-estimation method Recipe calculation Chemical analysis of nutrient content Energy and nutrient intake Clinical setting abstract Background and objectives: The main aim of this study was to validate a nutrient-estimation method applied using OPEN, a Slovenian platform for clinical nutrition. As the most desirable validation is a direct comparison of the calculated values with the values obtained from a chemical analysis of the same food, we performed a chemical analysis and a calculation for a representative set of daily meals (n = 20) and compared the data. The secondary aim was to evaluate the usability of the OPEN for dietary assessment. Methods: We used a Student’s t test to observe any differences between the analysed and calculated nutrient-content data, considering the 0.01 significance level. Results: No statistically significant differences were observed in the mean contents of energy, total dietary fibre, water, macro-nutrients, and selected essential minerals: Ca, Fe, Mg, Zn, Na, P, Cu and I. We notice statistically significant difference in the mean calculated and analytical values of sele- nium. Conclusions: We noticed remarkable, but not statistically significant, difference in the mean values of iodine (11%). The present study also indicates that the OPEN is a useful and cost-effective tool for both dieticians and patients. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The planning of institutional meals that appeal to school chil- dren, students, workers, hospital patients or military personnel, while at the same time staying within a budget, is a difficult task that may take an experienced professional some time to complete. To make this task easier and quicker, one can apply software de- signed to assist a human meal planner in adjusting the content of regular meals to the latest recommendations on healthy and bal- anced nutrition (Koroušic ´ Seljak, 2009). In Slovenia we have de- signed a web application for meal planning called The Open Platform for Clinical Nutrition (OPEN, http://opkp.si/, accessible in November 2011). The OPEN is aimed for meal planning, but it is also designed to calculate recipes and nutrient intakes for individuals or groups of individuals. It can apply any food composition database (FCDB) complying with EuroFIR procedures that facilitate access to and ex- change of comparable, high quality food composition data for industry, regulators and researchers across Europe. 1 The OPEN has been used at the University Children’s Hospital Ljubljana to support clinical dieticians in nutrition care process of dystrophic children and cystic fibrosis patients. The OPEN has also been applied to support research work in a clinical study ‘‘The Role of Human Milk in Development of Breast Fed Child’s Intestinal Microbiota’’, in which 230 healthy pregnant and breast- feeding women track and analyse their nutrition (http:// www.moje-mleko.si/en/, accessible in November 2011). In order to prove the efficiency and correctness of a recipe-cal- culation procedure applied within the OPEN, we made a study (Study I) in which we evaluated the energy and nutrient contents of a sample of daily meals using analytical and calculation tech- niques. The major aims of the study, the results of which are pre- sented in this paper, were to compare the energy and the 0308-8146/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2013.02.061 ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +386 1 4773 363; fax: +386 1 4773 882. E-mail addresses: barbara.korousic@ijs.si (B. Koroušic ´ Seljak), vekoslava.stibilj@ ijs.si (V. Stibilj), larisa.pograjc@mors.si (L. Pograjc), natasa.fidler@guest.arnes.si (N.F. Mis), evgen.benedik@gmail.com (E. Benedik). 1 These procedures were successfully proposed to the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and a CEN/TC 387 project committee on Food Composition Data was launched in 2008. In August 2009, the committee produced a first working draft of a standard that is a technical specification which covers data structure of FCDBs and interchange of food composition data. Based on the usual timeframe for development of standards, standard’s national implementation is anticipated by 2012. Food Chemistry xxx (2013) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Food Chemistry journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem Please cite this article in press as: Koroušic ´ Seljak, B., et al. Food composition databases for effective quality nutritional care. Food Chemistry (2013), http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2013.02.061