2012 Nutrient analysis of selected remote stores foods and processed meats

Background

Food Standards Australian New Zealand (FSANZ) has limited analytical data for some foods commonly consumed in remote communities and available through remote community stores.  

In May 2012, FSANZ undertook a small analytical program to collect information on the nutrient content of ten foods likely to be consumed as part of the 2012-13 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (NATSINPAS) component of the 2011-13 Australian Health Survey (AHS). These foods included kangaroo tail, canned meats and salted plums. Three popular processed meats were also included.

Sampling

FSANZ selected 13 foods for nutrient analysis. The majority of foods were selected based on remote stores data provided by the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia Departments of Health and a review undertaken by FSANZ in 2011 of foods commonly stocked in remote stores in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

Three additional processed meats (chicken 'deli' meat, prosciutto and chorizo) were selected for analysis based on consumption patterns observed during the 2011-12 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (NNPAS) component of the AHS.

In May 2012, FSANZ made between five and ten purchases of each type of food (as shown in Table 1). If more than one sample of the same brand was purchased, different batch codes were selected.

Twelve samples were purchased in Canberra. Canned products were purchased from common supermarket chains. The remote stores sales data was used to identify and weight the brands selected for purchase. Salted plums were purchased from two Asian grocery stores. Processed meats were purchased from several delis, including some within supermarkets. The prosciutto samples purchased were approximately equally Australian-produced and imported.

An additional six tails of small red kangaroos, of the type supplied to remote community stores, were sent vacuum packed, skin off, directly to the laboratory by the supplier (Macro Meats - Gourmet Game) in May 2012.

Table 1 Foods selected for analysis

Preparation and analysis

FSANZ photographed the samples in their original packaging before sending them to the National Measurement Institute (NMI). The edible portion of each sample supplied to NMI was homogenised and combined to form one composite sample for analysis for each food. The 13 different composite samples were tested without further preparation or cooking.

The NMI conducted the analyses at their Melbourne laboratories using methods of analysis that have been accredited by the National Association of Testing Authorities.

Results

FSANZ validated the NMI results using information from previous analyses conducted by FSANZ, food labels (ingredient lists and nutrition information panels) where available and international food composition databases.

The protein, fat, available carbohydrate, sodium, iron and saturated fatty acid contents of the analysed foods are presented Table 2 below. For the complete set of results generated from this program refer to:

• File

  Appendix 5 - NATSINPAS analytical program - data table (20 Kb Excel)

Kangaroo tail was found to be lean (1.1% fat), similar to previous analyses of kangaroo loin, fillet and rump, but lower in iron than some other kangaroo cuts, with tail containing 1.7 mg/100 g iron compared with 3.4 mg/100 g in loin fillet, and 2.3 mg/100 g in rump fillet. Sodium content was higher than in farmed meats such as beef but much lower than in the processed meats studied, which ranged from 230-1700 mg/100 g. The processed meat products studied, other than canned mixed dishes, were also much higher in fat than kangaroo.

Salted plums had the highest sodium content of all foods studied (8400 mg/100 g) and were also found to be high in iron.

Table 2 Moisture, protein, fat, available carbohydrate, saturated fat, sodium and iron content of analysed foods

Updates to the food nutrient database

FSANZ incorporated the nutrient data generated from this 2012 program into the NNPAS food nutrient database, which will also be used for the NATSINPAS. Where a food already existed in the database, the new analytical data was used to replace the older existing data. Where a food was not present in the database, a new food was created using the new analytical data. In some instances, nutrient values also needed to be imputed to make sure the food had a nutrient value for each of the nutrients to be reported from the AHS. These generally occurred for nutrients such as caffeine and ethanol which for these foods could be assumed to be zero.

FSANZ provided the kangaroo tail nutrient data to Macro Meats - Gourmet Game, in recognition of their assistance in providing the samples for analysis.

Conclusion

The results of the analytical program filled some important data gaps, with the nutritional composition of kangaroo tail, salted plum, chorizo, prosciutto and chicken deli meat being collected by FSANZ for the first time. The data collected from this program provide FSANZ with an improved level of confidence in the food and nutrient intake estimates from the AHS and will feed into future releases of the FSANZ reference database NUTTAB.