ASEANFOODS: ACTIVITIES ON FOOD COMPOSITION

-DURING 2002 2003

Prapasri Puwastien, ASEANFOODS Technical Coordinator

Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University, THAILAND

Poster presented at the Fifth International Food Data Conference, Washington DC,

30th - 3June rd 2003July

ASEANFOODS is the Association of Southeast Asian Networks of Food Data systems. Its

main objective is to organise activities to strengthening the development of national and regional food c

omposition data with high quality, adequate quantity and accessibility to the users. With the support an

d collaboration from FAO, UNU, INFOODS, OCEANIAFOODS and other international and national org

anisation i.e., AUSAIDS, JICA, APFAN, ILSI, INMU and NSTDB–Thailand, various activities have been

carried out since 1986.

-Activities during 2002 2003 1) Organisation of FoodComp-Asia course (6-24 May 2002) which was the first international course in Asia, supported by FAO and ILSI. There were 16 participants; 4 from SAARCFOODS, 2 from NEASIAFOODS and 10 from ASEANFOODS.

2) A questionnaire survey (May 2002- January 2003) was conducted among laboratories in ASEAN o

n the use of reference materials, participation in the proficiency study, existing analytical quality control

system, problems involved and requirement. The outcome of the survey are used for planning activiti

es to strengthening the members countries in these areas.

3) Organisation of the 5th ASEANFOODS Workshop ( 9-11 October 2002) with the main

objective to develop an ASEAN Manual of nutrient analysis

4) Organisation of the 7th laboratory performance study (October 2002- 2003) with the objective to stu

dy the existing status on the analysis of mandatory nutrients for nutrition labelling among laboratories i

n ASEAN.

ASEAN Network of food data system: member countries ar e:

• Brunei Darussalam• Indonesia• Malaysia• Philippines• Singapore• Thailand*• Vietnam• Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar

*Regional Centre and INFOODS IIIIIIIII II I IIIIIIIII I IIIIII IIIIIIII: , (), (http://www.inmu.mahidol.ac.th/aseanfoods)

IIIII I I IIIIIIIIIIII: , . .

New members, 2001

To organise activities to strengthen the development

of national and regional food composition databases with hi

gh quality,adequate quantity and accessibility to the users i

n ASEAN and other regions.

• UNU-INFOODS

• OCEANIAFOODS

• ILSI

• AUSAIDS

With the technical and financial support from the above international a nd national organisation and the collaboration among the member cou

ntries, various activities at regional centre have been carried out since1986.

• FAO

• APFAN

• JICA

• NSTDB-Thailand

INMU-Thailand

3

III III III IIII:

Objective of FoodComp Asia 2002 Objective of FoodComp Asia 2002

To show how FCD generators, compilers and users can collaborate and

contribute to the development of quality food composition data which is, in

result, valuable for effective use in nutrition and other related areas

Participants: from 11 countries• 4 from SAARCFOODS• 2 from NEASIAFOODS• 1 0 .from ASEANFOODS

1. Organisation of the first international FoodComp-Asia 2002 course (6-24 May 2002)

The course was divided into 3 main areas: food composition data generation, compilation and use. The major elements of the course comprised:

Food lab practices

Lecture

Group working

: composition

presentation.

Computer exercise

: some activities during the course

excursionnd outside BKK

Excursions outside BKK

- excursions BKK and outside BKK

welcome party

Diploma presentation

- excursions around BKK

1. FoodComp course syllabus

Since 1992, the FoodComp course was organised several times in the

Netherlands and at different regions of the world. For the most benefit of the participants and the

standard quality of the FoodComp course, a meeting of the course directors and the main lecturers

is strongly recommended. The objectives of the meeting are to exchange and share experience

and information gained from each course, harmonise, standardise and develop a standard

FoodComp course syllabus in details. The evaluation of the course by participants should be taken

into consideration in modification and improvement of the course.

2. International FoodComp advisory board and Technical committee International

Advisory Board and technical commitee of the FoodComp course should be formed. A specific

plan for organising the course in different regions should be set up and circulated to the funding

agencies for their budget planing of the support. 3. Course materialsThe main references and materials should be listed and have them available at the key

organisation, i.e., FAO, Rome. H Greenfield and DAT Southgate. Food Composition Data:

production, management and use, the new edition, should be provided by FAO to the participants of

the FoodComp course.

Objective : to survey the existing status on the use of reference materials, participation in the proficiency study, existing analytical quality control system, problems involved and requirement.

The out come of t he sur vey wi l l be used by the organiser for planning activities to strengthening the member laboratories in the surveyed areas. The information on users’

III IIII II IIIIIII II III III I III II I IIIIIIIII III III II IIIIIIIIII.

Number of countries: 6 Number of laboratories: 17

Malaysia (1 lab), Philippine(3 lab), Singapore (1 lab), Thailand (1 0 lab)

I IIIIIII I I II( 1 ), ( 1 ) ( ) Purpose for food analysis % in 1 7 laboratories

Services 59

Development of FCTS 19

Research 15

Product QC 3Others 6

2. Questionnaire survey (May 2002- January 2003)

2 1. Analytical quality control system used among 17 laboratories

Analysis % Distribution (n=1 7 )

CRM RM QC PT %R Repl Re

Proximate composition 4 1 22 23 9 31 10

Special components(1) 5 2 14 17 24 30 7

Vitamins 2 1 8 20 28 32 9

Minerals 5 3 14 16 22 29 11

(1) starch, sugars, cholesterol, fatty acids, amino acids CRM: certified RM; RM: RM with consensus value; QC: in-house QC sample; PT: proficiency study; %R: % recovery; Repl: replicate analysis; Re: repeated analysis

Overall QC system 4 2 15 19 20 31 9

There is a limited use of CRM and RM in all analyses, especially for vitamins which is likely due to the unavailability of the stable RMs. Replicate analysis is the most common QC

system among the laboratories, followed by % recovery, participating in PT study and II -IIIII I I III III III I IIIIIIII IIIIIIIII II I I IIIIII.

2.2 Difficulties encountered in using RMs 10 17(respondents: out of )

Difficulties No. lab %

• Cost (not affordable) 9 19

• Limited range of food matrix of 8 17

test materials• Limited range of covered nutrients 7 15• Process of purchase 5 11• Sample delivery 5 10• Sample stability 4 8• Packaging 2 4• Certificate 2 4• Protocol for sample preparation 1 2• Unit of expression 1 2

The t hr ee mai n r easons t hat l i mi t t he use of commer ci al CRMs ar e t heII prohibitive cost, limited range of food matrix and coverage of nutrients.

Users’ requirement: properties and characteristics food RMs

Type of food materials: soybean flour, milk powder, rice flour, meat,

fish meal, dried sea foods, fruit juice,

infant formula, fortified foods, liquid milk,

flour (low and high lipid)

Nutrients to be covered: Proximate (including DF), minerals,

vitamins (esp vit A, C, and B vitamins),

nutrients for nutrition labelling (including sugars,

fatty acids, cholesterol)

Type of packaging: Plastic bottle, laminated aluminum foil, cans,

- vials (requested for re sealed properties

Users’ requirement: properties and characteristics food RMs (continued)

- Amount per package (g): 30 50 g 7( ) 1( )

- 510: RMs for vitamins

- Shelf life (y): > - 12 (9)

Information required: Expired date, certified values, sample handling, range, uncertainty analytical methods used

- Affordable cost (US$/50g): 50 100 (5) - , 20 40 (2) - , 10 15 5( )

Other suggestion: small package for vitamin, requires wider range of food matrix

1( ) number of respondents

Depending on covered nutrient

2.3 Difficulties encountered in PT study 15 17(respondent out of )

Difficulties No. of lab %

• Cost (not affordable) 8 53 - 40100(affordable cost: US$/round, depending III III II IIIIIIIII II II IIIIIIIII)

• Limited range of nutrients 7 47• Test materials not match 6 40 with routine sample

• Packaging (not reseal) 4 27• Shipping (custom clearance) 3 20• Interpretation of results 3 20• Others: sample homogeneity, stability,

not enough quantity

Present status: PT providers & number of participating laboratories Present status: PT providers & number of participating laboratories

FAPAS 7

NATA 2

APLAC 12

ASEANFOODS 14

IAEA 1

LGC, AACC, AOAC 1

- PT providers # Participating Cost Laboratories US$

-2001100

too expensive

- Free <100 affordable

At present, many laboratories participated in the PT study which were organised worldwide. The PT providers are distributed in Europe, Australia,

America and Asia. However, the fee for one round at some places was too III IIIIIIIIIIII II IIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIII .

Users’ requirement: test materials, nutrient included, and frequency/year

Test materials Nutrients included

Milk powder, dairy products, proximate composition,

rice flour, soybean, fish meal, minerals, vitamins,

fortified foods, cereal products, nutrients for NL

dried meat, vegetable leaves

• Meat, fish meal, medical food, fatty acids, cholesterol vegetable oil

• Fresh vegetables, fruit juice vitamins, minerals vegetable leaves

- 12Frequency/year: rounds

Laboratory performance study: national PT providers inASEAN

Country Institute

Indonesia Research Center for Chemistry, Indonesian Institute of Science, Bandung

Philippine (2x) Food and Nutrition Research Institiute, Dept of Science and Technology (FNRI)

Bureu of product STD

Singapore (1x) PSB Corporation

- Thailand (2x) Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University - Dept of Science Services (DSS), Ministry of Sci., Tech, and Environment

Vietnam (1 ) Vietnam Laboratory Accreditation System IIIIIII

1. Stepwise quality control system should be encouraged among laboratories in each country.

2. RMs with consensus values of nutrients should be prepared at national - or regional level, following a well designed harmonised protocol. The difficulties encountered and the requirement of the users must be taken into account.

3 . ( ) ,Laboratory performance study PT study should be organised at national level in order to minimise the difficulties. Special arrangement among member countries can be made (e.g. use the same test materials, following the same protocol, etc.). The outcome can then be compared. III IIIIII IIIII II III IIIIIIII IIIIII III IIIII II III IIIIIIIIIIII obtained from this questionnaire survey would be useful for effective planning of the activities.

4. Harmonised protocols for developing the RMs and organising the PT study IIIII IIIIIIII II III IIIIIIIII III IIIIIIII IIIII I IIIIII.

5 . ,To exchange experience regular communication among the project coordinators - throughemai l , meet i ng, and r el at ed conf er ence ar e encour aged

3. Organisation of the 5th ASEANFOODS Workshop (9-11 October 2002)

Objective:

1. To document the ASEAN methods of nutrient analysis

2. To organise an ASEANFOODS meeting to review the previous activities

and to prioritise the future activities.

Organiser: ASEANFOODS Regional Centre, Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University, THAILAND

Duration: 3 days, 9-11 October 2002

Place: Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University, Salaya

Strategic Plan:

The activities were divided into 3 phases - -1 2 3) Pre workshop, ) Workshop, and ) Post workshop

Documentation of ASEAN Manual for nutrient analysis

- Pre Workshop activities: • Two experts on analytical methods from each country were invited.

• The area of experts was identified according to the group of nutrients.

• The analytical methods used in each country were compiled (~6 wks)

• The obtained methods were classified according to the area of experts.

• Each expert was requested to review one or 2 analytical methods

(compiled from each country) according to his expertise (about 6 wks)

and prepared the recommended method(s) to be discussed at the

workshop.

Documentation of ASEAN Manual for nutrient analysis(continued)

3Workshop activities: days - (9 1 1 2 0 0 2 )• Groups of experts from different countries for each nutrient were formed.

Format of the document of analytical methods was agreed.

• Experts discussed among their group and worked together on recommended analytical methods for each nutrient.

• At the end of the day, each group submitted the recommended analytical method for responsible nutrient.

• The working group moved to the other responsible nutrient on the second day and followed the same strategies on the first day.

• Representative of each working group presented the flow chart of the

recommended analytical methods of each nutrient on the third day and

open for the discussion and conclusion.

Documentation of ASEAN Manual for nutrient analysis(continued)

- Post workshop activities:

• The lay-out of the document was set.

• The format of all the submitted methods were reviewed and corrected.

• The content and the references are being reviewed and edited by

the editing team.

• The language proof is the final step of editing.

• The document of each method will be disseminated to participants for

final proof.

• The camera-ready of ASEAN-Manual will then be prepared for printing

and for electronic document.

Thestatusof t he document s: The document s wer e di vi ded i nt o t hr ee sect i ons.

The editing team composed representatives from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

It is expected that the document should be published within 2003.

Opening

Meeting room

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Presentation

For the success of the documentation of the manual, the following key steps are recommended.

1. From each country, 3-5 experts with different areas of expertise should be invited. 2. Activities should be divided into pre-workshop, workshop and post-workshop.

3. Provide 3 months for pre-work, 5-7 days for workshop, and at least 6 mo. for post-workshop, and one month for publishing.

4. Key activities: at the workshop after recommended methods are obtained, details of each methods must be presented for comments and final approval.

5. Sufficient support must be available for conducting the above activities.

Recommendation:Recommendation:

4. Laboratory performance study: round 7 (October 2002- 2003)

ObjectiveThe main objective was to study the existing status on the analysis of mandator

y nutrients for nutrition labelling among laboratories in ASEAN.

Materials and Methods 1. Participating laboratories:

Twenty-eight laboratories, governmental and non-governmental, in Thailand

and ASEAN participated in this study. A secret laboratory code number was

assigned for each participating laboratory.

2. Test materials

Three test materials, AS-FRM 5 (weaning food) with consensus values of

nutrients and two commercial food products – milk powder and full-fat

soybean flour - were used in this study.

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Checking sample homogeneity and stabilityChecking sample homogeneity and stability

Checking for homogeneity:Ten sub-samples of milk powder were randomly sampling. Sample homogeneity of milk

powder was checked by analysis of moisture, total nitrogen and vitamin B2, in duplicate. Each

analysis was performed in one setting by one good performance analyst on the same day using the

same set of reagents.

Results: The values of RSD for each analysed nutrient, derived from the analysis of 10 single

samples were pleasingly low (0.8-2.5%), with HORRAT values of less than 1 (0.2-0.7) for all

analysed nutrients. Milk sample was thus considered sufficiently homogeneous.

Checking for nutrient stability in milk powder:

Milk powder was kept at room temperature, 4oC and –20oC. The analysis of vitamin B2

was used for checking the stability of the sample. Five single samples of milk powder were

randomly selected at 0 day, after 7 days at room temperature (30-32oC) which represented

the conditions for transportation of the samples, after one, 3 and 6 months at -20 oC.

Single analysis of riboflavin in each sample, by HPLC, was performed on the same day by

the same analyst

Results: All the results were in the range of mean + SD of the level

obtained from 0 day, the sample was considered stable for the PT study. The stability of

vitamin B2 will be followed until the sample is not used as RM for vitamin analysis.

Statistical analysis The statistical evaluation was carried out for within and between laboratory variation using

robust z-score. Laboratories with an absolute z-score value, within or between, equal to

and greater than 3 were identified as outliers. Laboratories with absolute z-score of

2<[z-score]<3 were counted as questionable results. Duplicate results with an absolute

z-score of < 2 were satisfactory.

Summary of results

The main discrepancies of submitted results were most similar to the last performance study in

1998, they were total lipid, saturated fat, cholesterol, dietary fibre, sugars, vitamin A and

riboflavin. Several participants requested the linoleic and linolenic acids to be separately

reported. The results cannot be evaluated due to the limited numbers of laboratories, submitted

by only 7 out of 28 laboratories. For many components, some possible causes of the

discrepancies were discussed and presented. To easy the sample handling, laboratory

performance study on specific vitamins, especially vitamin A and riboflavin, should be performed

separately. Corrective actions and collaborative activities among participating laboratories to

improve, strengthen and retain the quality of food analysis laboratories are encouraged.

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1. Food composition database

• Develop - CD ROM of FCD with food photo• Develop software for data compilation/• Update the ASEAN FCTs in 2005

2. RMs and laboratory performance study: continued working

5 . Training course on developmentof reference material and organisation of laboratory performance study

3 . ASEAN Methods for nutrient analysis Hope to be available in 2003.

4. Homepage and Logo of ASEANFOODS Http://www.inmu.mahidol.ac.th/aseanfoods

Future activities of ASEANFOODS