Key Foods

Published by Agricultural Research Service | Department of Agriculture | Metadata Last Checked: January 27, 2026 | Last Modified: 2025-11-22

The Nutrient Data Laboratory is responsible for developing authoritative nutrient databases that contain a wide range of food composition values of the nation's food supply. This requires updating and revising the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (SR) and developing various special interest databases. However, with over 7,000 food items in SR and a complete nutrient profile costing approximately $2,000 for one sample, analyzing every food item for every nutrient and meeting all user requirements is impossible. Consequently, priorities must be determined. Procedures using food consumption data and nutrient values for developing the Key Foods list are explained. Key Foods have been identified as those food items that contribute up to 75% of any one nutrient to the dietary intake of the US population. These Key Foods will be used to set priorities for nutrient analyses under the National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program. The tables describe key foods based on Continuing Survey Of Food Intakes By Individuals (CSFII, 1989-) and WWEIA-NHANES (What We Eat In America - National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-) survey data. Resources in this dataset:Resource Title: List of Key Foods based on CSFII 1989-91. File Name: KeyFoods_key_ls91.txtResource Description: Key Foods based on CSFII 1989-91 https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400525/Data/KeyFoods/key_ls91.txtResource Title: List of Key Foods based on CSFII 1994-96 . File Name: KeyFoods_key_ls9496.txtResource Description: List of Key Foods based on CSFII 1994-96 https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400525/Data/KeyFoods/key_ls9496.txtResource Title: List of Key Foods based on WWEIA-NHANES 2001-02. File Name: KeyFoods_key_ls0102.txtResource Description: List of Key Foods based on WWEIA-NHANES 2001-02 https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400525/Data/KeyFoods/key_ls0102.txtResource Title: List of Key Foods based on WWEIA-NHANES 2003-04 . File Name: KeyFoods_key_ls0304.txtResource Description: https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400525/Data/KeyFoods/key_ls0304.txtResource Title: List of Key Foods based on WWEIA-NHANES 2007-08. File Name: Keyfoods_0708.xlsxResource Description: List of Key Foods based on WWEIA-NHANES 2007-08 https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400525/Data/KeyFoods/Keyfoods_0708.xlsxResource Title: List of Key Foods based on WWEIA-NHANES 2009-10. File Name: Keyfoods_0910.xlsxResource Description: List of Key Foods based on WWEIA-NHANES 2009-10 https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400525/Data/KeyFoods/Keyfoods_0910.xlsxResource Title: List of Key Foodsbased on WWEIA-NHANES 2011-12. File Name: Keyfoods_1112.xlsxResource Description: List of Key Foodsbased on WWEIA-NHANES 2011-12 https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400525/Data/KeyFoods/Keyfoods_1112.xlsx

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bureauCode	[ "005:18" ]
identifier	10.15482/USDA.ADC/1408781
programCode	[ "005:040" ]
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temporal	1989-01-01/1989-01-01