Development of an Australian Choline Database

This project was conducted to develop an Australian choline database for analysing population intakes and key food sources using the 2011-13 Australian Health Survey.

Prior to this project no Australian choline data had been collated.

The project created a literature search to source existing published choline data for Australian foods and then applied suitable borrowed data from overseas food composition databases to Australian foods using a conversion factor. The developed choline database for Australian foods was then applied to the 2011-13 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey component of the Australian Health survey to determine the characteristics of persons meeting Australian nutrient reference values for choline. Intakes of all population groups assessed were found to be below the recommended adequate intake levels. Persons consuming high intakes were also addressed and a predictive model of choline food sources was developed.

Overall Conclusions

• Limited analytical data is available for Australian food items
• The majority of food items in the choline database were adapted from the US database for standard reference
• Australian intakes for all ages and both genders were below the recommended Adequate intake levels