EuroFIR's food databank systems for nutrients and bioactives

The objective of the EuroFIR project is to increase the Internet availability of European national food composition databases and specialised collections, including the EuroFIR BASIS database of bioactive components. Database compilers will upgrade data with food and component descriptions, documenting the compositional values and adding new data following agreed priorities. Prototype EuroFIR databank systems have used both distributed and centralised retrieval. In the preferred approach, database owners provide an interface to the EuroFIR system using an XML data exchange format. Users will have online access to a wide range of European data, linking foods and nutrients through harmonised data description and associated nutrient value information.