Food groupings applied in the FAO/WHO GIFT platformThe FAO/WHO GIFT platform provides access to dietary data collected through individual level food consumption surveys, and presents summary statistics relevant to nutrition, food safety, dietary diversity, and the environmental impact of diets. Statistics are calculated and displayed for individual food items as well as aggregated food groups.
The way in which foods and drinks are classified in dietary surveys requires careful consideration taking into account the purpose of the classification. Standardized food groupings allow for consistent analysis according to the purpose and allows for presentation of comparable statistics from diverse datasets.
Four different standard food grouping systems are used to display the summary statistics:
Nutrition-sensitive food grouping – underlies the statistics presented in the Food Consumption and Nutrition sectionsFood safety food grouping – underlies the statistics presented in the Food Safety section Dietary diversity food grouping – underlies the statistics presented in the Dietary Diversity section Environmental food grouping – underlies the statistics presented in the Environment section The foods and beverages reported in the surveys shared through the FAO/WHO GIFT platform are harmonized by matching them with the base terms of FoodEx2 classification system, a standardized vocabulary for categorizing and describing foods developed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).1 FoodEx2 codes are mapped to each of the four food groupings allowing for automatic association of foods and beverages with their respective food group for analysis.
The food groupings may also be used by researchers who wish to apply the food groupings to their own dietary data. A matching file providing the link between the four food groupings and the FoodEx2 base terms is available to external users who wish to apply the food groupings to their data. The file can be accessed via the following link: https://www.fao.org/3/CD7985EN/FoodEx2_MTX.xlsx.
1 EFSA (2024). Food classification standardisation – The FoodEx2 system. Accessed November 2024. URL: https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/data/data-standardisation