MethodologyCHAPTER 1

All the generic recipes commonly used in the study area were listed (114 total recipes).

Separate recipe form was used for each recipe.

Specific ‘generic’ name of the mixed dish/beverage entered at the top of the form

• All ingredients recorded on separate lines, including the water added to the recipe in the first column.
• Detailed description and cooking method was included in the second column.
• Amount of raw ingredient used in the recipe was mentioned in the third column
• In the last column weight of the raw ingredient in the recipe was recorded in grams.

5–10 recipes were collected and recorded for each dish/beverage in separate recipe forms. Up to 10 recipes were collected if the dish/beverage is commonly consumed.

New Excel document was created for each generic recipe.

All the raw ingredients from all the recipes for each specific dish/drink were listed.

Gram weight for each raw ingredient for each recipe were entered in the corresponding row.

Proportion of each raw ingredient per 100 g for each recipe was calculated using the general formula = Grams of ingredient × 100/Sum total of all the ingredients in that specific recipe

Median amount of each ingredient contributed from all the recipes was calculated.

This value is adjusted to per 100 g for each ingredient using the formula:

= Median ingredient amount × (100/median total of all ingredients)

Food code, specific to food/generic recipe

Food name(s) in the local language

Food name and description in English

Food Groups. e.g. legumes and nuts mentioned as Food group 2

Factors and nutrient values (with units), with one Column for each of—Water (% moisture), Energy (kcal), Protein (g), Total lipid (Fat) (g), Carbohydrate (g), Fiber (g), Fatty Acids, total saturated (g), Fatty Acids, total monounsaturated (g), Fatty Acids, total polyunsaturated (PUFA) (g), Calcium (mg), Iron (mg), Zinc (mg), Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) (mg), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) (mg), Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxal phosphate, PLP) (mg), Dietary folate equivalent (DFE) (μg), Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin) (μg), Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) (mg), Vitamin A, RAE (μg), Total Choline (mg), Betaine (mg), Phytate (mg).

Comments section for recording the details of where specific data for that food was collected, e.g. source of the FCT values and specific detailed description of that particular food/beverage.6

Nutrient values for the specific foods were carefully entered into the Excel FCT from the nationally available FCT- Nutritive Value of Indian Foods. For missing foods in National FCT, nutrient data was imputed from another FCT (mostly Bangladesh FCT, World Food Programme (WFP).

Units for the nutrients in the national FCT were checked and appropriate conversions were made when they did not match.

For example:

Retinol activity equivalent (RAE) units (μg) was used for vitamin A activity in foods as per recommendations from IOM (2001) and following formula was used.

RAE (μg) = Retinol (μg) + (β-carotene (μg)/12.0) + (other provitamin A carotenoids (μg)/24.0)

Dietary folate equivalent (DFE) units (μg) was calculated by this formula.

DFE (μg) = Food folate (μg/100 g) + (1.7 × μg synthetic folic acid)

FCTs were checked for nutrient values for cooked foods (or ‘foods as consumed’) and if available they were used as they are already adjusted for nutrient retention factors and yield factors.

• If the nutrient values of cooked foods are available from the national or other FCT and are consumed in the local diet cooked, these nutrient values were listed on a separate new row in the Excel FCT, labeled as “ingredient name, specifying cooking method”. For example: for “rice, white, raw”; a new food item labeled, as “rice, white, boiled”8

Nutrient values recorded on the Excel FCT were checked again and ensured that they are:

• Specific for that food and form (raw or cooked)
• The unit as specified for that nutrient (e.g., mg, g, RAE, etc.)
• The exact value (with decimal place) entered correctly

Specific generic recipe food name was entered in the local language description provided in English.

Exact ingredient from the Excel FCT were copied and pasted into the new row for the corresponding ingredient in the recipe.

Although, generic recipes contain the raw ingredients of the recipe, the cooked values were entered here whenever the dish or beverage is cooked for consumption, since the cooked foods account for the nutrient retention and yield factors.

Copying and pasting for each ingredient into a separate row from the Excel FCT was continued till all the ingredients were entered.

Water was the only ingredient that was omitted from the recipe.

For each of the ingredient, contribution per 100 g of that ingredient to the overall recipe was entered.

• For example, from the generic recipe for 100 g of Tea, the ingredients are: 33.43 g Milk, boiled; 11.20 g Sugar; and 2.06 g Tea Powder.
• In other words, values in the cells for the generic Tea ingredients, the contribution of Boiled Milk per 100 g is = 33.43; Sugar = 11.20; and Tea powder = 2.06

In the new row, the cumulative contribution for each macronutrient and micronutrient were calculated based on the energy or nutrient value per 100 g of each ingredient multiplied by the percentage contribution (i.e., contribution/100 g) of each ingredient to the recipe.

The formula entered into the cell for the cumulative sum for energy:

= (energy value per 100 g of the 1st ingredient × the percentage contribution of the 1st ingredient) + (energy value per 100 g of the 2nd ingredient × the percentage contribution of the 2nd ingredient) + (energy value per 100 g of the 3rd ingredient × percentage contribution of the 3rd ingredient), etc.

For example, in order to calculate the cumulative sum for the energy value of Tea:

Calculations were double-checked for accuracy of the cumulative energy cell. The mouse was dragged from the bottom left-hand corner of the energy cell across the row to “instantly” calculate the cumulative values for all the nutrients in the recipe.

After calculating the cumulative values for the generic recipe for every nutrient, then the “cumulative” row was copied and pasted into a new inserted row in the Excel FCT in the appropriate food group. The most appropriate food group was based on the highest contributing food item (excluding water) to that generic recipe.

This process was repeated for each generic recipe.10

The energy content per 100 g of Rice flakes (105), for onion (132), for groundnut oil (884), for peanuts (599), for peppers (46), for lemon (29), for coriander leaves (24), for Bengal gram (164), for sugar (398), for salt (0), for mustard seeds (541), for cumin seeds (375), for curry leaves (115) and for turmeric (312) were entered.

The percentage contribution of Rice flakes to the overall recipe = 0.522

The percentage contribution of onion = 0.194

The percentage contribution of groundnut oil = 0.096

The percentage contribution of peanuts = 0.068

The percentage contribution of peppers = 0.032

The percentage contribution of lemon = 0.021

The percentage contribution of coriander leaves = 0.015

The percentage contribution of Bengal gram = 0.014

The percentage contribution of sugar = 0.012

The percentage contribution of salt = 0.0087

The percentage contribution of mustard seeds = 0.0043

The percentage contribution of cumin seeds = 0.0039

The percentage contribution of curry leaves = 0.0028

The percentage contribution of turmeric = 0.0024

The cumulative sum for the energy value of poha/Avalakki is

= (Corresponding energy value cell/100 g of rice flakes × 0.522) + (Corresponding energy value cell/100 g of onion × 0.194) +(Corresponding energy value cell/100 g of groundnut oil × 0.096)+(Corresponding energy value cell/100 g of peanuts × 0.068) + (Corresponding energy value cell/100 g of peppers × 0.032) + (Corresponding energy value cell/100 g of lemon × 0.021) + (Corresponding energy value cell/100 g of coriander leaves × 0.015) + (Corresponding energy value cell/100 g of Bengal gram × 0.014) + (Corresponding energy value cell/100 g of Sugar × 0.012) + (Corresponding energy value cell/100 g of Salt × 0.0087) + (Corresponding energy value cell/100 g of mustard seeds × 0.0043) + (Corresponding energy value cell/100 g of cumin seeds × 0.0039) + (Corresponding energy value cell/100 g of curry leaves × 0.0028) + (Corresponding energy value cell/100 g of turmeric × 0.0024)

= (105 × 0.522) + (132 × 0.194) + (884 × 0.096) + (599 × 0.068) + (46 × 0.032) + (29 × 0.0214) + (24 × 0.015) + (164 × 0.014) + (398 × 0.0127) + (0 × 0.0087) + (541 × 0.0043) + (375 × 0.0039) + (115 × 0.0028) + (312 × 0.0024)