Measuring the Potential Impact of New and Reformulated Bread and Breakfast Cereal Products on Nutrient Intakes

Food composition databases are important tools for assessing the dietary status of consumers. Database updates are particularly challenging due to the dynamic nature of the food supply, as new products are constantly introduced to meet policy mandates, consumer demands, and health trends. Researchers responsible for maintaining and updating food composition databases may benefit from a better understanding of how foods in the food supply are changing to help assure database accuracy and adequacy. The growing popularity of whole-grain foods in response to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 has the potential to alter the nutritional contribution of two important sources of whole grains—breakfast cereals and bread products. This report integrates new product data with a national survey of dietary intake data to simulate select nutrient intakes over time, assuming new and reformulated breakfast cereals and breads fully replace available products. For most product-nutrient combinations, estimated nutrient intakes based on new products and nutrient values from USDA’s Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies grew closer over time or tracked similar patterns of nutrient consumption.