Fostering quality data in food composition databases: visions for the future

Food composition data are currently being used in ways not well-anticipated several years ago. Consequently, some of our criteria of quality, of both data per se and of databases, need to be re-examined, expanded, or otherwise adjusted. Among the key criteria for reassessment for the future vision are the concepts of representativeness, completeness, and a harmonized approach. The controversial issues related to these concepts are food biotechnology and biodiversity, climate change and other environmental phenomena, risk assessment, trade and regulatory requirements, and evidence for diet/disease relationships.