Expansion of a nutrient database with the “new” vitamin E

The 2000 release of new Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) for Americans and Canadians redefines vitamin E activity based solely on naturally occurring α-tocopherol and 2R-stereoisomeric forms of synthetic α-tocopherol. This definition contrasts with the previous measure of vitamin E, α-tocopherol equivalents (α-TEs), which includes all forms of α-tocopherol and contributions from other tocopherols. The Nutrition Data System for Research (NDS-R) developed by the Nutrition Coordinating Center at the University of Minnesota is used to calculate nutrient intakes for studies investigating relationships between diet and health. The new DRIs required NDS-R database changes for recalculation of vitamin E activity, while retention of original values was required for comparability with data collected in the past. New nutrient fields were added to the database to separate α-tocopherol values into natural and synthetic forms, each with a different level of vitamin E activity. In unfortified foods, all α-tocopherol was considered to be the natural form. For foods fortified with synthetic vitamin E, product formulations were used to calculate first the amount of natural vitamin E in the food; the remainder of vitamin E on the product label was attributed to synthetic α-tocopherol. For analysis of trends, the new nutrient fields for vitamin E were added to previous versions of the database and to deactivated foods, and α-TE was maintained in the current database. Researchers using the NDS-R have the option of calculating vitamin E using the new measures of activity or using the prior α-TE values for comparison of current data with previously published values. New values for vitamin E were added to all 18 000 foods in the database. To determine the difference between the new and previous measures of vitamin E expected in a daily diet, menus typical of American adults were calculated using NDS-R. Vitamin E measured as α-tocopherol ranged from 63% to 90% of α-TE with menus higher in vegetable oils and fortified foods showing the largest difference between the two measures.