Response to Sharma Parpia et al. (2018): The accuracy of Canadian Nutrient File data for reporting phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and protein in selected meat, poultry, and fish products

摘要

We would like to clarify some misunderstandings in a letter to the journal (Sharma Parpia et al., 2018) and provide a brief introduction to the Canadian Nutrient File (CNF) Online.The CNF is a bilingual food composition database containing average values for nutrients in foods available in Canada. A useful entry point to the CNF Online is the CNF User's Guide (Health Canada, 2015). It is acknowledged that much of the data in the CNF are derived from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference because there is considerable overlap in marketed foods in the two countries. Imputed data from the USDA database are carefully reviewed and relevant foods are selected for inclusion in the CNF. Recalculations are done to reflect differences in fortification regulations in Canada. The CNF also contains unique nutrient profiles from the Sampling and Nutrient Analysis Program of Canadian foods (SNAP-CAN) (Deeks et al., 2017). SNAP-CAN provides nationally representative samples of priority foods in Canada, collected and analyzed in qualified food labs using standardized protocols to produce comprehensive nutrient profiles. Although there are many foods in common in Canadian and American marketplaces, the use of the CNF instead of US-based databases is important in population-based studies in Canada because of differences in the data contained therein (Csizmadi et al., 2007).