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Objective: To evaluate the contribution of composite foods to vegetable and fruit intakes in Irish adults and to compliance with dietary guidelines for vegetable and fruit intake.Design: Data were analysed from the North/South Ireland Food Consumption Survey of 18-64-year-old adults (n=1379; 662 men, 717 women), which used a 7-day food diary to estimate food intake.Results: The mean intake of vegetables (excluding potatoes) was 140 g day(-1) (men 149 g day(-1); women 132 g day(-1)), of fruit was 136 g day(-1) (men 133 g day(-1); women 140 g day(-1)) and of potatoes was 227 g day(-1) (men 296 g day(-1); women 163 g day(-1)). The mean daily intakes of vegetables, fruit and potatoes from composite foods were 37 g (26%), 6 g (5%) and 17 g (7%), respectively. The mean intake of vegetables from composite foods was unrelated to age or gender, but increased with increasing social class and level of education attained. The proportions of men and women meeting the recommendation for >or=400 g day(-1) (5 servings of 80 g per day) of vegetables and fruit were 21% (15% excluding composite foods) and 19% (12% excluding composite foods), respectively. Compliance with the dietary recommendation decreased with decreasing levels of educational attainment and social class.Conclusion: Intakes of vegetables and fruit are low compared with current dietary recommendations, particularly in those of lower levels of educational attainment and social class. Composite foods are an important source of vegetables (less importantly of fruit) and should be included when estimating vegetable intakes. Failure to do so may result in bias in estimates of intake and of compliance with dietary guidelines for population groups, as well as misclassification of individuals by level of intake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To describe the consumption of ready-to-eat-breakfast cereals (RTEBCs) in Irish adults and its impact on adequacy and safety of micronutrient intakes and compliance with dietary recommendations.Design: Analysis for this paper used data from the North/South Ireland Food Consumption Survey that estimated habitual food intake using a 7-day food diary in a representative sample of adults aged 18-64 years ( 662 men, 717 women).Results: Despite the small quantity consumed (mean 28.6 g day-1 or 4.7% of total energy intake), RTEBCs made an important contribution to the mean daily intake of carbohydrate (8.1%), starch (10.8%), dietary fibre (9.8%) and non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) (10.8%) in consumers. Increased consumption was associated with a more fibre-dense diet and with greater compliance with dietary recommendations for fat, carbohydrate and NSP. Fortified RTEBCs contributed significantly to mean daily intakes of iron (18%), thiamin (14%), riboflavin (17%), niacin (15%), vitamin B6 (13%), total folate (18%) and vitamin D (10%) and most of the contribution was from micronutrients added to RTEBCs. Increased consumption of fortified RTEBCs was associated with an increased nutrient density for a number of micronutrients and with a lower prevalence of dietary inadequacy of calcium, iron, riboflavin and folate, particularly in women. However, it was not associated with intakes in excess of the Tolerable Upper Intake Level for any micronutrient.Conclusions: The consumption of RTEBCs is associated with improved compliance with dietary recommendations for fat, carbohydrate and fibre, with a more micronutrient-dense diet and a reduced risk of dietary inadequacy for calcium, iron, riboflavin and folate, without increasing the risk of excessive intakes of micronutrients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]