Introduction

• Food is essential for human life because it is the source of energy and nutrients. Energy supports the activities of human body, whereas nutrients are vital for growth, repair and maintenance of good health.
• Good nutrition is very important in every stage of life. Pregnant women and lactating mothers require additional nutrients to support a normal pregnancy and lactation for the babies respectively. Infants need energy and nutrients for growth and development, while well-nourished children and adolescents grow and learn better. Young and older adults require different nutrients in balanced amount to maintain good health and prevent diseases.

Nutrient Information Inquiry System (NIIS)

• To achieve good nutrition, it is important to learn more about the sources and functions of nutrients.
  
• NIIS, designed by the Centre for Food Safety (CFS), is a web-based searchable database containing nutrient data of commonly consumed food items which are of relevance and interest to our local community. It is available free of charge with two functions: a Food Nutrient Finder (for people who want to browse and search for information about a specific food or nutrient) and a Food Nutrient Calculator (for people who want to estimate the nutrient intake from selected foods using the available data from NIIS). The information provided is for personal non-commercial use and reference to make healthy food choices.
  

  

What's new?

• NIIS will be kept updated with the latest information from available sources. With the generous contribution of various authorities, as of January 2021, the main database provides information on energy and 18 nutrients of about 7600 food items including indigenous food items.
• New foods and more interactive features (e.g. information display, food/ nutrient selection) are added in the Food Nutrient Finder. Besides energy and 18 nutrients, trans fat (also in the main database), iodine and alcohol (for alcoholic beverages only) in some local foods are also presented in separate tables, if available. For more information, read its User Guide before browsing a food or nutrient.
• More user-friendly display is adopted in the Food Nutrient Calculator. Read its User Guide before using the calculator.

Acknowledgement

• The CFS would like to acknowledge the following authorities/ organisations for their generous contribution in the field of food composition research and sincerely appreciate their sharing of information:
  1. the Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention,
  2. the Nutrient Data Laboratory, US Department of Agriculture,
  3. Food Standards Australia New Zealand, and
  4. the Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University, Thailand.
• The CFS is also grateful to the following departments/ organisations for providing pictures of some vegetables and fishes for reference:
  1. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD),
  2. Fish Marketing Organization (FMO), and
  3. Vegetable Marketing Organization (VMO).