The nutritional composition of selected ethnic foods consumed in Italy

Abstract

Assessment of the nutritional quality of some selected ethnic foods consumed in Italy was performed within the framework of the European Food Information Resource (EuroFIR 1 ) Network as part of the ethnic foods Work Package.A definition of ethnic and modified ethnic foods, as well as guidelines on the characterisation of immigrant populations and a detailed stepwise analysis of the ethnic food market, have been developed within the EuroFIR project. These were the basis for selecting ethnic foods in Italy for nutritional analysis. Four main immigrant groups (Asian, Latin American, African and Eastern European) were identified as commonly selected from those residing in Italy, and 25 dishes or composite foods consumed by these ethnic groups were selected. Based on consumption rates and market share of these foods in Italy, five ethnic food types (cantonese rice, nachos, falafel, kebab, sarmale) were chosen and collected for analysis.Nutritional evaluation of the selected foods was performed by analysing the following components: water, nitrogen, fat, total sugars, starch, total ash and dietary fibre, fatty acid composition, cholesterol, minerals (Na, Ca, Fe, P, Mg, K, Cu, S, Zn and Cl), and vitamins (vitamins A, E, B1, B2, B6, C, biotin, niacin and b-carotene). Procedures for collection of the chosen foods, along with the results of the analysis, are described in the present paper. These new data will be added to the Italian Food Composition Tables.

Ethnic food consumption: Habits and risk perception in Italy

“…The results of this study showed that the habit of consuming ethnic food is quite common and for most of the respondents the consumption grows in the last 5 years. However, the importance of understanding the impact of new ingredients in the Italian diet and the risk factors that can be introduced with these different preparations and foods is highlighted (Marletta et al, ).…”

Nutritional quality of preparations based on Döner Kebab sold in two towns of Veneto Region, Italy: preliminary results

“…Looking at the lipid intake, a meal based on Döner Kebab (34.7 g per serving size) can cover, on average, 41.8 and 51.8% of the daily RI of fat for male and female respectively. In comparison with others studies, the mean energy content (226.1 kcal/100 g) was lower than 268 kcal/100g (Marletta et al ., 2010 ) or that of 336 kcal/100g registered by the LACORS study. However, it must be pointed out that in both studies the values were indicative solely of bread plus meat or only meat.…”

“…The low values found in this study, where the total ingredients were analyzed after pooling, may be due to the low energy density of the vegetables but also to the use of meat with relatively low lipid content. The lipids content, expressed per 100 g of sample, was 8.6, 16.7 and 20.6 g respectively for the present study, (Marletta et al ., 2010 ) and LACORS. Saturated fat was 2.3, 6 and 9.8 g. Such differences are certainly determined by the different sampling approach, but also by the quality and kind of meat species (in particular with reference to saturated fat).…”

“…Nevertheless, in most of the shops an industrial product often made with poor quality meat is served (Castellani, 2007 ). The studies relating to the nutritional aspects of this preparation are very few, and most of them are limited to the analysis of only two ingredients (bread and meat) or only meat (Marletta et al ., 2010 ; Vazgecer et al ., 2004 ). The most comprehensive survey was published in 2009 by LACORS.…”

Food Composition Databases: Considerations about Complex Food Matrices

“…To date, the need for more nutritional data on cooked foods and composite dishes in FCDBs has emerged, beside a marked gap in their composition information. At the time, there are still too few studies in literature that take into account the complex food formulations (ingredients, preparations, cooking method) on nutritional properties of composite dishes [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ].…”