Food Categories

Definition

A method of grouping  similar foods in their as-consumed forms,  for descriptive purposes.

USDS's 150 food categories

The USDA’s  Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has  created 150 mutually exclusive food  categories to account for each food or  beverage item reported in What We Eat in  America (WWEIA), the food intake survey  component of the National Health and  Nutrition Examination Survey (for more  information, visit: http://seprl.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=23429).

Milk and dairy	Grains	Other food groups
MILK AND DAIRY	GRAINS	BEVERAGES, NONALCOHOLIC
Milk	Cooked Grains	100% Juice
Milk, whole	Rice	Citrus juice
Milk, reduced fat	Pasta, noodles, cooked grains	Apple juice
Milk, lowfat	Breads, Rolls, Tortillas	Other fruit juice
Milk, nonfat	Yeast breads	Vegetable juice
Flavored Milk	Rolls and buns	Diet Beverages
Flavored milk, whole	Bagels and English muffins	Diet soft drinks
Flavored milk, reduced fat	Tortillas	Diet sport and energy drinks
Flavored milk, lowfat	Quick Breads and Bread Products	Other diet drinks
Flavored milk, nonfat	Biscuits, muffins, quick breads	Sweetened Beverages
Dairy Drinks and Substitutes	Pancakes, waffles, French toast	Soft drinks
Milk shakes and other dairy drinks	Ready-to-Eat Cereals	Fruit drinks
Milk substitutes	Ready-to-eat cereal, high sugar (>21.2g/100g)	Sport and energy drinks
Cheese	Ready-to-eat cereal, low sugar (≤21.2g/100g)	Nutritional beverages
Cheese	Cooked Cereals	Smoothies and grain drinks
Cottage/ricotta cheese	Oatmeal	Coffee and Tea
Yogurt	Grits and other cooked cereals	Coffee
Yogurt, regular	SNACKS AND SWEETS	Tea
Yogurt, Greek	Savory Snacks	ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
PROTEIN FOODS	Potato chips	Alcoholic Beverages
Meats	Tortilla, corn, other chips	Beer
Beef, excludes ground	Popcorn	Wine
Ground beef	Pretzels/snack mix	Liquor and cocktails
Pork	Crackers	WATER
Lamb, goat, game	Crackers, excludes saltines	Plain Water
Liver and organ meats	Saltine crackers	Tap water
Poultry	Snack/Meal Bars	Bottled water
Chicken, whole pieces	Cereal bars	Flavored or Enhanced Water
Chicken patties, nuggets and tenders	Nutrition bars	Flavored or carbonated water
Turkey, duck, other poultry	Sweet Bakery Products	Enhanced or fortified water
Seafood	Cakes and pies	FATS AND OILS
Fish	Cookies and brownies	Fats and Oils
Shellfish	Doughnuts, sweet rolls, pastries	Butter and animal fats
Eggs	Candy	Margarine
Eggs and omelets	Candy containing chocolate	Cream cheese, sour and whipped cream
Cured Meats/Poultry	Candy not containing chocolate	Cream and cream substitutes
Cold cuts and cured meats	Other Desserts	Mayonnaise
Bacon	Ice cream and frozen dairy desserts	Salad dressings and vegetable oils
Frankfurters	Pudding	CONDIMENTS AND SAUCES
Sausages	Gelatins, ices, sorbets	Condiments and Sauces
Plant-based Protein Foods	FRUIT	Tomato-based condiments
Beans, peas, legumes	Fruits	Soy-based condiments
Nuts and seeds	Apples	Mustard and other condiments
Processed soy products	Bananas	Olives, pickles, pickled vegetables
MIXED DISHES	Grapes	Pasta sauces, tomato-based
Mixed Dishes - Meat, Poultry, Seafood	Peaches and nectarines	Dips, gravies, other sauces
Meat mixed dishes	Berries	SUGARS
Poultry mixed dishes	Citrus fruits	Sugars
Seafood mixed dishes	Melons	Sugars and honey
Mixed Dishes - Grain-based	Dried fruits	Sugar substitutes
Rice mixed dishes	Other fruits and fruit salads	Jams, syrups, toppings
Pasta dishes, excludes macaroni and cheese	VEGETABLES	INFANT FORMULA & BABY FOOD
Macaroni and cheese	Vegetables, excluding Potatoes	Baby Foods
Turnovers and other grain-based items	Tomatoes	Baby food: cereals
Mixed Dishes - Asian	Carrots	Baby food: fruit
Fried rice and lo/chow mein	Other red and orange vegetables	Baby food: vegetable
Stir-fry and soy-based sauce mixtures	Dark green vegetables, excludes lettuce	Baby food: meat and dinners
Egg rolls, dumplings, sushi	Lettuce and lettuce salads	Baby food: yogurt
Mixed Dishes - Mexican	String beans	Baby food: snacks and sweets
Burritos and tacos	Onions	Baby Beverages
Nachos	Corn	Baby juice
Other Mexican mixed dishes	Other starchy vegetables	Baby water
Mixed Dishes - Pizza	Other vegetables and combinations	Infant Formulas
Pizza	Vegetable mixed dishes	Formula, ready-to-feed
Mixed Dishes - Sandwiches (single code)	White Potatoes	Formula, prepared from powder
Burgers	White potatoes, baked or boiled	Formula, prepared from concentrate
Chicken/turkey sandwiches	French fries and other fried white potatoes	Human Milk
Egg/breakfast sandwiches	Mashed potatoes and white potato mixtures	Human milk
Frankfurter sandwiches		OTHER
Other sandwiches		Protein and nutritional powders
Mixed Dishes - Soups		Not included in a food category
Soups

Examples

Examples of WWEIA Food Categories include soups,  nachos, and yeast breads.

Difference between food categories and food groups

In contrast to  food groups, items are not disaggregated  into their component parts for assignment  to food categories. For example, all  pizzas are put into the pizza category. 

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