| Internet
sites with nutritional information |
The Internet
is filled with general information about nutrition, supplements,
and health advocacy. One on-line source for nutritional information
is the Nutrient
Data Laboratory at the US
Department of Agriculture (USDA). It contains the searchable
Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 14, which
allows retrieval of information on energy content, major and
minor nutrient composition of edible food items as found in
grocery stores. Nutrients included are protein, (and its amino
acid composition), carbohydrate, and fat content (details
as saturated, mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids),
cholesterol, vitamins, and minerals. It also has information
on food additives, supplements, and nutritive values of foods.
The Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) provides food safety
and regulatory information through the Center
of Food Safety and applied Nutrition. Both the FDA and
USDA are part of the Departments of Health and Human Services
of the United States Government. Food safety is under control
of the FDA covering the following areas: acidified and low
acid canned foods biotechnology, color additives, cosmetics,
dietary supplements, food ingredients and packaging, food
borne illness, microbiological methods, food labeling and
nutrition, imports and exports, inspections, compliance, enforcement
and recalls, pesticides and chemical contaminants, total diet
study, BSE, or food allergens. Food safety is not addressed
in this class, but is important for those interested in nutrition
and dietary guidelines.
Biochemistry
and Molecular Biology Internet Sources: A plethora of unique
chemical pathways in microorganisms, and cell type specific
metabolic needs in animals and plants promise many future
discoveries in the general field of nutraceuticals and functional
foods (see part III). The recent advances in genome sequencing
and the concomitant establishment of databases of DNA and
amino acid sequences (see NCBI; National
Center for Biotechnology Information), protein structures
(see PDB; Protein Data
Base), and specifically the metabolic pathway database
KEGG.
These and other databases provide a gold mine for today's
biochemical research.
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