The backbone of the FDA’s Nutrition Facts boxes is a Nutrient Database Release 28 managed by USDA. USDA is moving the database and search tool to a new URL: FoodCentral Data. Many in regulatory affairs have downloaded excel versions of the nutrient values for various reports and now you’ll want to monitor this migration. USDA promises to merge available information to a centralized access point. The nutrient values and food composition information is to be housed more centrally to support nutrition and health policy efforts.
USDA posted on their website for the Food Composition Databases
As a result of the recent government furlough, the date that USDA’s food composition databases will no longer be available on this site has been changed to the second quarter, 2019. All of these datasets, including the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS), SR Legacy, and the USDA Branded Food Products Database, will transition to FoodData Central, a new and harmonized USDA food and nutrient data system. FoodData Central will also include expanded nutrient content information never before available as well as links to diverse data sources that offer related agricultural, food, health, dietary supplement, and other information. Check back often to this page for updates on the transition to FoodData Central.
This database integrates government standard reference foods with brand-name product nutrient values. So user beware–not all the “branded product” information is that reliable. The database is the core of nutrient values for the leading “for-profit” software tools used to create Nutrition Facts labels (panels). This data formerly populated the USDA Choose MyPlate nutrient analyses tool. It provided thousands of users free access to nutrient analyses of one’s personal data until the current administration discontinued access June 2018. (The Agency reasoned that users could get the same information elsewhere–but they failed to acknowledge that it would be a fee.)