McCance and Widdowson's Tables of Food Composition
Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics (1999), 12, 1–5
McCance & Widdowson’s Tables of Food Composition: origins and clarification of the Fifth edition
A. E. Black∗ and A. A. Paul†
∗Medical Research Council, Dunn Clinical Nutrition Centre, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2DH; †Medical Research Council, Human Nutrition Research (formerly Dunn Nutrition Laboratory), Downham’s Lane, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4 1XJ, UK
The evolution of the McCance and Widdowson’s Tables of Food Composition is briefly described and some confusions that exist over the Fifth edition are clarified. Key words: Food tables UK.
Introduction
Food composition tables are absolutely basic tools for the work of the dietitian and the human nutritionist. Every dietary prescription is built on the data in the food tables. Every study of the relationship between diet and health depends on the use of food tables to calculate nutrient intake. It is essential therefore that those who use the tables fully understand how they are compiled and what are their limitations. Food tables need to reflect the foods eaten in the culture in which they are to be used, in terms of the types of foods and their origins. Where used to analyse dietary intake data, recipes that reflect the local cultural patterns are an additional requirement. As agricultural and food manufacturing practices change, the food tables need to evolve to keep up with them. In the UK we are fortunate in having an excellent set of food tables. They have evolved over a period of now nearly 60 years and there is a continuing rolling programme for updating. However, this does mean that the
tables exist in several editions. Users need to understand when each edition appeared and how each differed from its predecessors. They need to know which edition has been used to analyse a given study. If embarking on a reanalysis of old data they need to choose the most appropriate version. If embarking on analysis of a new study, they need to use the most
McCance & Widdowson’s Tables of Food Composition: origins and clarification of the Fifth edition
A. E. Black∗ and A. A. Paul†
∗Medical Research Council, Dunn Clinical Nutrition Centre, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2DH; †Medical Research Council, Human Nutrition Research (formerly Dunn Nutrition Laboratory), Downham’s Lane, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4 1XJ, UK
The evolution of the McCance and Widdowson’s Tables of Food Composition is briefly described and some confusions that exist over the Fifth edition are clarified. Key words: Food tables UK.
Introduction
Food composition tables are absolutely basic tools for the work of the dietitian and the human nutritionist. Every dietary prescription is built on the data in the food tables. Every study of the relationship between diet and health depends on the use of food tables to calculate nutrient intake. It is essential therefore that those who use the tables fully understand how they are compiled and what are their limitations. Food tables need to reflect the foods eaten in the culture in which they are to be used, in terms of the types of foods and their origins. Where used to analyse dietary intake data, recipes that reflect the local cultural patterns are an additional requirement. As agricultural and food manufacturing practices change, the food tables need to evolve to keep up with them. In the UK we are fortunate in having an excellent set of food tables. They have evolved over a period of now nearly 60 years and there is a continuing rolling programme for updating. However, this does mean that the
tables exist in several editions. Users need to understand when each edition appeared and how each differed from its predecessors. They need to know which edition has been used to analyse a given study. If embarking on a reanalysis of old data they need to choose the most appropriate version. If embarking on analysis of a new study, they need to use the most
References: Chan, W., Brown, J. & Buss, D.H. (1994) Miscellaneous Foods. Fourth supplement to the Fifth Edition of McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods. Cambridge and London: The Royal Society of Chemistry and the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food. Chan, W., Brown, J., Church, S.M. & Buss, D. (1996) Meat products and dishes. Sixth supplement to the Fifth Edition of McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods. Cambridge and London: The Royal Society of Chemistry and Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food. Chan, W., Brown, J., Lee, S.M. & Buss, D.H. (1995) Meat, poultry and game. Fifth supplement to the Fifth Edition of McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods. Cambridge and London: The Royal Society of Chemistry and Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food. Holland, B., Brown, J. & Buss, D.H. (1993) Fish and fish products. Third supplement to the Fifth Edition of McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods. Cambridge and London: The Royal Society of Chemistry and Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food. Holland, B., Unwin, I.D. & Buss, D.H. (1988) Cereals and cereal products. Third supplement to McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods (4th Edition). Nottingham and London: The Royal Society of Chemistry and Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Holland, B., Unwin, I.D. & Buss, D.H. (1989) McCance & Widdowson’s Tables of Food Composition Paul, A.A. & Southgate, D.A.T. (1978) McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods, 4th. Edition. London: HMSO. Paul, A.A., Southgate, D.A.T. & Russell, J. (1980) First supplement to McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods. (Amino Acid Composition, Fatty Acid Composition). London: HMSO. Southgate, D.A.T. & Paul, A.A. (1978) The new ‘McCance and Widdowson’. A guide to the 5 fourth edition of McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods. J. Hum. Nut. 32, 137–141. Tan, S.P., Wenlock, R.W. & Buss, D.H. (1985) Immigrant foods. Second supplement to McCance and Widdowson’s the Composition of Foods. London: HMSO. Widdowson, E.M. (1961) The composition of foods: its evolution and ‘new look’. Nutrition, Lond. 15, 1–7. Submitted September 1998, Revised October 1998, Accepted October 1998 © 1999 Blackwell Science Ltd, J Hum Nutr Dietet 12, 1–5