KOREAN NET

This is a screen from the Asian Food & Agriculture Cooperation Initiative Database. (Screen capture from Rural Development Administration's website)

By Kim Seon Ah

The Rural Development Administration (RDA) has compiled data on the ingredients of major consumer foods of member states of the Asian Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (AFACI).

In December last year, the RDA launched a database with the information on its official website (koreanfood.rda.go.kr).

The database categorizes 923 foods into 20 groups and contains 12,484 pieces of data in 16 categories, including 14 ingredients from each country, energy and waste rate. The information includes the foods' regular and academic names, varieties, and countries of production written in both English and the relevant country's language.

Since 2021, the RDA has shared its database setup know-how accumulated over half a century with AFACI member states. It has also standardized the databases of 11 member states who meet guidelines of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization for publications on food ingredient information for integration into the AFACI ingredient database.

This project has allowed Bhutan, Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan to secure analyzed information on the ingredients of their own cuisines for the first time. The project has also allowed Asian countries to systematically preserve their distinct culinary cultures and biodiversity by integrating and setting up a database on Asian food ingredients.

The RDA will support capacity-building training for researchers in AFACI member states through 2027. It will also expand the number of foods for analysis, raise the quality of nutritional data and compile information on the traditional foods of member countries.

sofiakim218@korea.kr