The development and use of food reference materials at the Philippine Food and Nutrition Research Institute

Summary As the Philippine government's main investigator and compiler of local food composition data, the FNRI has been conducting activities on food reference materials since 1987, in accordance with guidelines of the 1983 UNUINFOODS and 1986 ASEANFOODS initiatives. Results of these activities as well as problems encountered therein are summarized. Similar activities of the Asia-Pacific Food Analysis Network (APFAN) are also reported. These activities demonstrate the attempts to harmonize analytical methods in laboratories of the Asia-Pacific region.