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11. Sorting Foods Selected by Type, by Search, by Nutrient

In this lesson you will apply sort mechanisms (by nutrient content, food groups, nutritional relevance, or cost) to the group of foods that is displayed when you use by Type, by Search or by Nutrient from the menu line.

Objectives

After this lesson, you will be able to sort a group of foods selected by Type, by Search or by Nutrient on the menu line:

You will also be able to view the actual nutrient content of foods that have been sorted by nutrient content.

Lesson

Earlier in this tutorial you learned to select groups of foods according to one of three criteria (food type (lesson 5), name (lesson 6), being good sources of a particular nutrient (lesson 7)). In this lesson, you will learn to identify foods that also meet a second criteria (nutrient content, food type, being nutritionally relevant, or cost). For example, you will be able to identify cheeses that are low in fat, foods with "fast food" in the name that are low in sodium or good sources of Vitamin A that are high in fibre. Using the "by Need" sort, you can even choose breakfast cereals that are "most likely to be good for you".

Four different types of sorting are available:

  1. By Protein, By Fat, By Carbohydrate....- The foods that have the most of the sort nutrient per 100 grams are listed at the top of the list. After each sort, the amount of that nutrient in the food at the top of the list is shown in the bottom right hand corner of the window. As you select other foods in the window (so that they are highlighted in blue) by using the up/down arrow or by clicking on them with the mouse, the lower corner field is updated to show the amount of the sort nutrient in that food. The following example indicates how such a sort would reorder foods.

    2. Initial List of Breakfast Cereals by Food Name (Alphabetically)




                                                                   WHEN EACH FOOD IS SELECTED
                                                               THE BOTTOM CORNER TELLS YOU:      
CEREAL, 100% BRAN, POST                                                   (PROBABLY BLANK)
CEREAL, ALL BRAN, KELLOGG'S                                               (PROBABLY BLANK)
CEREAL, ALPEN (MUESLI) WEETABIX                                           (PROBABLY BLANK)
CEREAL, ALPHA-BITS, POST                                                  (PROBABLY BLANK)
CEREAL, BALANCE WITH RAISINS AND ROLLED OATS, POST                        (PROBABLY BLANK)
CEREAL, BRAN BUDS WITH PSYLLIUM, KELLOGG'S                                (PROBABLY BLANK)
CEREAL, BRAN FLAKES, KELLOGG'S                                            (PROBABLY BLANK)
.
.

    After Sorting by Total Fat

                                                                   WHEN EACH FOOD IS SELECTED
                                                               THE BOTTOM CORNER TELLS YOU:
CEREAL, GRANOLA, HOMEMADE                                                 27.2 G FAT 
CEREAL, HARVEST CRUNCH: ORIGINAL, QUAKER                                  22.5 G FAT
CEREAL, HARVEST CRUNCH: WITH APPLES & CINNAMON, QUAKER                    20.1 G FAT
CEREAL, HARVEST CRUNCH: RAISINS AND ALMONDS                               19.2 G FAT
CEREAL, GRANOLA: WITH NUTS, ROGERS                                        14.0 G FAT
CEREAL, MUSLIX: BANANA NUT, KELLPGG'S                                     10.0 G FAT
CEREAL, HARVEST CRUNCH: LOW FAT-RAISINS/AMONDS, QUAKER                     8.8 G FAT
.
.

    After Sorting by Sodium

                                                                   WHEN EACH FOOD IS SELECTED
                                                               THE BOTTOM CORNER TELLS YOU:
CEREAL, RICE KRISPIES, KELLOGG'S                                          1040 MG SODIUM
CEREAL, CORN BRAN, QUAKER                                                  990 MG SODIUM
CEREAL, CORN FLAKES, KELLOGG'S                                             975 MG SODIUM
CEREAL, ALL BRAN KELLOGG'S                                                 910 MG SODIUM
CEREAL, CHEERIOS, GENERAL MILLS                                            900 MG SODIUM
CEREAL, SPECIAL K, KELLOGG'S                                               895 MG SODIUM
CEREAL, BRAN FLAKES, KELLOGG'S                                             885 MG SODIUM
.
.

    After Sorting by Fibre

                                                                   WHEN EACH FOOD IS SELECTED
                                                               THE BOTTOM CORNER TELLS YOU:      
CEREAL, FIBER FIRST MULTIBRAN, PRESIDENT'S CHOICE                           50.0 G FIBRE
CEREAL, FIBRE 1, GENERAL MILLS                                              43.0 G FIBRE
CEREAL, BRAN BUDS WITH PSYLLIUM, KELLOGG'S                                  37.4 G FIBRE  
CEREAL, 100% BRAN, POST                                                     34.1 G FIBRE  
CEREAL, ALL BRAN, KELLOGG'S                                                 33.6 G FIBRE
CEREAL, BRAN FLAKES, POST                                                   17.1 G FIBRE                                          
.
.
  2. by Food Type- This sorts foods according to the food groupings listed under Food by Type on the menu line. For example, you could use this sort to quickly review whether milk products, meats or fruits and vegetables were most represented in a list of foods that were good sources for a certain nutrient.
  3. by Food Name- This sorts foods alphabetically by food name.
  4. by Need- This sort considers what nutrients would help you meet your goal (Recommended Nutrient Intake and other guidelines) depending upon what you have already selected and what nutrients are provided by 100 grams of each food. This sort attempts to order foods such that foods at the top of the list most help (or least hinder) meeting nutrient goals and foods near the bottom of the list least help (or most hinder) those goals. Note that if you have not yet selected any food, the by Need sort does not do any sorting. Because the assumed quantity of 100 grams may or may not be appropriate, your judgement is still required in deciding if the foods promoted by the sort are appropriate.

    5. Note that when you use Food by Type , by Search or by Nutrient on the main menu, the foods can be automatically sorted either alphabetically (by Food Name) or by Need. The alphabetic option is usually used but you can set FoodFocus up so that foods are automatically sorted such that those foods that are probably the most nutritionally relevant are near the top of the list (lesson 14).

  5. by Cost- This sorts foods according to cost per 100 grams, in order of most expensive foods to least expensive foods.

Review Topics

  1. How could you find out what fast foods have the highest fat content (per 100 grams)? The lowest fat content?
  2. How could you find out what the range of sodium in breakfast cereals? The range of bran content?
  3. How could you group good sources of folate to determine the general nature of animal and plant sources?
  4. How could you find out for a typical day what restaurant meals are most likely to be "good for you"? What restaurant meals are least likely to be "good for you"? (answer: add foods for a typical day, select combination dishes and sort by need)
  5. How would you find good sources of Vitamin A that are also high in fibre?
  6. How would you find the colour of the vegetables that the best sources of Vitamin A?
  7. How would you compare the fat content of 90 grams of sirloin steak, 30 grams of caesar dressing, one egg and one large muffin? (answer: SEE lesson 12)

Independent Practice

Under what conditions do you think it would be better to have foods selected using Food by Type , by Search or by Nutrient on the main menu ordered automatically by Need rather than alphabetically?

Coming Next....

How to define how many people will eat the foods in the food list.... Recommended Nutrient Intake.....

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© 1999 FoodFocus
Revised - January 2001
Chad Prowse