Introduction:

Databases and food composition tables (FCDB and FCT, respectively) provide information about the chemical-nutritional composition of foods.

Objective:

of this work was to define the sources of food composition data used in Costa Rica and their impact on public policies.

Materials and methods:

It was analyzed which TCA and FCDB have been available in Costa Rica from 1960 to 2020. Users were surveyed about food composition data. It was analyzed the uses of these data and some of their impacts on public policy.

Results:

The predominant use of data from the U.S. FCDB is identified, the national data are mostly outdated, and there is little data from direct (chemical) analysis of food. The importance of having our own, upto-date, and representative data on food composition for public health decision-making is evident.

Conclusions:

Generating and compiling institutions should be linked to maximize resources to strengthen the availability of food composition data in the country. The need to generate a National Food Composition Data System that meets the identified needs in terms of quality and presentation of information is evident.