Translating nutrition research into practical dietary advice is challenging, particularly regarding essential amino acid (EAA) requirements. The USDA introduced "Protein Ounce Equivalents" (Oz Eq) in 1992 to help consumers monitor protein intake and assist federal programs in complying with dietary guidelines. However, Oz Eq does not accurately reflect protein or EAA contents in designated “protein foods”.

Nutrient Analysis is basic to human nutrition research and practice. Nutrient databases must aim to create detailed knowledge of the chemical composition of foods at a level of precision comparable to the other aspects of precision nutrition, including anthropometry, genetics, epigenetics, and metabolomics. It has become clear that there is incomplete knowledge of the nutrient composition of foods. including incomplete and outdated information.

Nutrition data is about to undergo dramatic changes. While many scientific disciplines such as genetics, metabolomics and the microbiome have seen seismic advances in the quantity, quality and access to the data at the heart of their research, nutrition science data has lagged behind.