SuperTracker
SuperTracker is the free tool provided by the USDA to plan and track diet and exercise choices. The tool is geared to a pretty standard American diet – compared to a tool such as NutritionData, SuperTracker has a small range of food items and preparations in its database. When applicable, for a particular food item NutritionData offers the relevant industry-standard products (commodities such as each of the various USDA grades of steak) in their raw form as well as in various cooked forms (e.g. ‘cooked, boiled, without salt’) as well as specific fast food menu items. Food names (e.g. ‘scallions’) common in other English-speaking countries are not translated by the SuperTracker to the US equivalents; NutritionData often either has the food in its database or includes the other names in the food name – for example, “Onions, spring or scallions (includes tops and bulb), raw’.
and the ability to specify a serving size Create a ‘Combo’ – but only out of food items already in the database.
SuperTracker has some useful reporting features such as empty calories – though that doesn’t appear in the pdf report – and a comparison of your daily intake to targets based on your profile. The dynamic bar chart is nice – but its ‘Food Groups’ presentation is very misleading. For example, quinoa is allocated the ‘Whole Grains’ group and by default refried beans are in the ‘Vegetables’ group – but only the latter can be reallocated to the ‘Protein Foods’ group… even though quinoa has a much more complete amino acid (protein) profile than refried beans. SuperTracker lacks the breadth and depth of information features provided in NutritionData. NutritionData but not SuperTracker features that I particularly appreciate are Inflammation Factor, Glycemic Load, nutrient balance Completeness Score, and a protein quality Amino Acid Score.
MyPlate
On 2011 June 8 Body Ecology commented on the USDA’s MyPlate, a replacement for the Food Pyramid. (USDA is the US Department of Agriculture.) Body Ecology opined that MyPlate’s objective of decreasing US obesity rates is good but that the method – reducing calories, refined grains, fats (for example switching from whole to skim milk), and sodium – was misguided. However, the opinions are undermined by statements such as “Adding a raw salad would begin to waken up their palates to the flavors and life force found in vegetables”. (Beyond the specious ‘life force’ term, to many the people most in need of weight loss, ‘raw salad’ means iceberg lettuce with a creamy dressing – empty-calorie “rabbit food” which derives its flavor from the chemically-enhanced dressing rather than from raw vegetables.)
NutritionData
NutritionData is a free tool to determine the nutritional data for most raw and cooked food items and many processed foods (including brand name fast food items). When available the data includes the IF (Inflammation Factor), GL (Glycemic Load), and amino acid profile.
USDA F.S.I.S. Complaint Form
In late 2012 the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (F.S.I.S.) debuted an electronic consumer complaint form. Consumers may use the form to report meat, poultry, and egg product food safety complaints.
ANDI
Late 2009 / early 2010 Whole Foods introduced ANDI, the Aggregate Nutrient Density Index, created by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. ANDI evaluates the relative amounts of vitamins and minerals as well as ORAC scores on a scale of 0 to 1000. The ANDI value for kale and collards is 1000, cola is 0.6, corn is 44, and almonds are 38. In my opinion, a scale that puts iceberg lettuce (110) far ahead of flax seeds (65), walnuts (34), and olive oil (9) isn’t very useful.
Gluten Free / Allergy Free Passport
Apps, blog, and other resources for gluten-free dining.