Adequacy of a food composition database to estimate fat and fatty acid intake

This work examined the adequacy of the only food composition database avail able in Croatia to estimate fat and fatty acid intake. A 7-day food record with 39 participants was carried out. In addition to Croatian food composit ion tables (FCT1), the Swedish food tables (FCT2) were used to convert food records into quantities of total fat and saturated, monounsaturated and po lyunsaturated fatty acids, respectively. The subjects simultaneously collec ted duplicates of all consumed food. The chemical analysis of duplicates to determine total fat and fatty acids included extraction of fat, followed b y methylation of fatty acids and GC analysis. According to the comparison o f methods, FCT2 are a better predictor of fat and fatty acid intake than FC T1 because of their closer agreement with analysed values. The correlation coefficients imply that both food tables estimate most of these nutrients s imilarly to a reference method. However, food records combined with either of the food tables could not predict intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids by men. In order to improve applicability of FCT1 in dietary surveys concer ned with fat and fatty acids, the next issue should include changes in resp ect to an identified systematic error, as well as a greater choice of food items and their varieties. Accuracy of food records based on FCTI could fur ther be increased with subjects giving details on recipe ingredients, analy sis of missing foods, etc.