Methodology

The development of the INDB involved two main steps:

• Data was compiled from the ICMR-NIN IFCT 2017 and 2004, covering a total of 528 and 369 raw food items, respectively.
• Additionally 144 raw foods were referenced from the UKFCT and 54 raw foods were referenced  from the US Food Data Central.
• 611 recipes from “Basic Food Preparation, 4th Edition” and 513 from “The Art and Science of Cooking, 5th Edition” were collated.
• Duplicate recipes (258) were removed, and 148 recipes were added from popular Indian food blogs, resulting in 1,014 unique recipes. Each recipe was updated with English and local names and assigned unique codes.
• The recipe database in Microsoft Excel details ingredient amounts, total weight, number of servings, and serving size.
• Nutrient content per 100g and serving was calculated by summing individual ingredients, primarily using IFCT 2017 and IFCT 2004 data and 2004 data, with supplementary data from the UK food composition table (144 ingredients) and USDA database (54 ingredients).
• All calculations were performed using Stata version 17, and the STATA codes enabling researchers to update recipes and extract nutrients are freely available on GitHub at Indian Nutrient Databank INDB.