Introduction
The UK food supply has grown and the generic food composition tables1 no longer represent current diets. The main UK database underlying the online tool, myfood242, has been quality checked for accuracy to represent the wider retail food supply. The dataset contains extensive nutrient information on both branded and generic items.
Our aim was to describe the UK database (December 2021), and compare nutrient values for food groups from different locations: supermarkets, fast food outlets, coffee shops and restaurants, health food shops and food delivery services with generic products.
Methods
Foods from UK retailers were identified and back-of-pack nutrient information was extracted. A mapping process was undertaken to match foods to the nearest generic food item from McCance and Widdowson v7 to provide complete nutritional composition data for over 100 nutrients, vitamins and minerals.
Results
The myfood24 UK database includes 10 of the 11 main supermarkets; 5 of the major coffee shop chains; 9 of the leading fast-food outlets; plus food delivery services. By December 2021, there were 79,338 branded food items included and 3,334 generic products. Mean nutrient values for branded compared to generic items was statistically significant for many food groups and nutrients. The branded database shows significantly higher values compared to generic tables for energy for cereals, chocolate, dried fruit, fish, fresh fruit, muffins, nuts, sweet bakery products and ready meals and a lower mean energy intake for oils. For example, the branded database contains information on 2925 chocolate products compared to 19 items in the generic database. Branded chocolates have a mean energy/100g of 518kcal and the generic items 476kcal; mean difference 41kcal (95%CI: 20, 62kcal). Branded cereals (n=1275) have a mean energy/100g of 377kcal and the generic cereals (n=42) a mean energy/100g of 320kcal; mean difference 58kcal (95%CI: 14, 101kcal). Branded oils (n=452) have lower energy/100g at 839kcal compared to generic oils (n=24) at 897kcal; mean difference -59kcal (95%CI: -10, -107kcal).
Conclusion
Differences between branded and generic data could lead to error in calculation of nutrient intakes in surveys. New products are appearing all the time, and the myfood24 database has now over 90k items with full nutrient data. Use of retail product information is important in understanding population nutrient intake data.

UK food composition data: a comparison between branded and generic products in myfood24.

The Nutrition Society Summer Conference 2022 is hosted in collaboration between Sheffield Hallam University, University of Sheffield and Sheffield City Council. It will be the first in-person Summer Conference since the pandemic, held at the Sheffield Hallam University city centre campus.

Sustainability is high on the agenda for individuals and for society as a whole, recent meetings such as COP 26 have highlighted the urgency of addressing climate change, of which food systems are a key factor.

The overarching theme of this conference highlights sustainability- sustainability is a large, diverse and contemporary issue consisting of environmental, societal and health perspectives which will be addressed from varying angles. 

This meeting will consider how to build ethical food systems, tackle inequalities and sustain health and wellbeing for future generations.

The Organising Committee have considered local food provision and will offer you a chance to explore Sheffield and its local produce.