United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Nutrient Database

Specific instructions for finding data on the USDA web site are given below. This site features a variety of interesting information as well as the latest version of the USDA Nutrient Database. The on-screen directions are not very complete, so here are some tips for using the database:

To look up food composition data and learn how the data were collected:

Choose the option “Search for values in the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference....” You will get to a main search screen entitled "Search the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference." From this screen you have two options:

1. For keyword searching on a wide variety of foods, follow the instructions on the screen to start your search.


(a) If your keywords are found, you'll get a list of items that matched; choose the one that agrees best with the food you are studying. Follow the on-screen instructions to get the specific nutrient composition data for your food. You can print or save this information (in text format) to a disk using the ‘Save’ button on your browser. If you view or print the saved file, it is useful to change the font to Courier, a font in which the columns in the table will line up properly.

(b) If your keyword was not found, you'll get an error message. Use the ‘Back’ button on your browser to return to the previous screen and try a broader search. Some foods may not be in the database.

2. To get more information on what the data mean and how they were collected, click on the “Information” link. In the next screen, choose “US Nutrient Database for Standard Reference”. The “Documentation” option gives detailed information about the data in the tables.

For further information on food composition and nutrition:

1. The item “Food Composition Products” will give you an idea of the variety of information available from the USDA. Some are available in Adobe Acrobat form which you can read on the computer, while others are in a format that requires specialized database software.

2. The links “Frequently Asked Questions” and “Glossary of Terms” contain helpful information for interpreting and using the food data and answering nutrition questions in general.

3. The item “Links to other food composition and nutrition home pages” has useful links to data sources and other food data information.

Start your search at the web site: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/