Introduction

The first Table of Food Values Recommended for Canadian Use was produced by the Department of Pensions and National Health in 1944 [6]. The second edition [3] contained the statements, "There is scarcely one single food for which complete analyses made in a Canadian laboratory are available" and "Where Canadian values were available in sufficient range they have been used." This edition used data from USDA Agriculture Handbook No. 8, 1950 [8]. In the late 1960s, the information was revised and reformated into a computerized version for calculating the 24 hour recall food consumption portion of the Nutrition Canada Survey, 1971-1972 [1]. The source of the data was, in most cases, USDA Handbook No. 8, 1963 [8]. "Canadian only" foods were entered, examples being all baked goods sold in the province of Newfoundland; these are made with "Newfoundland flour," a calcium-enriched product. Cooking-yield factors were applied to raw foods where cooked values were not available, some nutrient analyses were performed and appropriate levels of fortification of various foods changed to meet Canada's food and drug regulations. After the survey, this data base was made available to persons able to use it, and various other nutrient values (such as zinc and copper in a limited number of foods) were added over the years to meet the needs of the Bureau of Nutritional Sciences. By 1978, no more foods or nutrients could be added and it was decided to reformat the entire tape into a more flexible and accessible form, to be called the Canadian Nutrient File (CNF).