Nutrient Data Acquisition and Quality Assurance Research Initiative

CBORD will develop standardized algorithms, rule sets, and a computer system that will facilitate the acquisition, validation ("QA"), and dissemination of nutrient data. Beginning with USDA databases, CBORD will build a master nutrient dataset incorporating quality assured data from manufacturers. The system will facilitate creation of several database subsets which are currently unavailable in the marketplace, including databases structured to meet the specific and diverse need of clinical nutrition researchers, food scientists, and manufacturers. We propose to develop tools to satisfy the market's need for timely, accurate nutritional data, including: 1) A data editor, to collect data from manufacturers and perform QA screening on the data prior to submission; 2) A statistical methodology for performing QA on the datasets, to identify and handle duplicate items, interpolation, and imputation of missing values; 3) A statistical process that will facilitate merging, subsetting, and exporting multiple datasets to meet industry-specific requirements; and 4) An export program available on a world-wide network, to provide easy access to the data in the industry standard IFDA Product Data Exchange Format.