Allergens are substances capable of inducing an allergic or immune response in individuals who may be sensitive to that specific compound. Such a substance may be a protein or nonprotein.

Amino Acids are organic compounds containing nitrogen and often referred to as the building blocks of protein.

Blended Food using the WFP's definition is a "processed mixture of cereals and other ingredients (e.g., pulses, oilseeds, dried skimmed milk, and possibly sugar and or some kind of vegetable oil) that have been milled, blended, and pre-cooked by extrusion or roasting."

Bioavailability refers to the speed and or the amount (percentage) of a nutrient that is absorbed and utilized.

Calories refer to the unit by which food energy is measured. The amount of heat given off when food is burned in a laboratory device is measured and thus one kilocalorie (kcal) is the amount of heat that raises one kilogram of water one degree centigrade. Human energy requirements are estimated in kilocalories. So when we say we need 1200 calories, we actually mean 1200 kilocalories or the amount of food (fuel) to raise 1200 kilograms of water one degree centigrade.

Caries refer to the molecular decay of teeth or bones. It is often used as the term that describes the condition preceding dental cavities.

Celiac Disease is a chronic nutritional disturbance of the gastrointestinal tract whereby food is not absorbed appropriately and maldigestion occurs. It is also called gluten enteropathy because it is an immune response to a protein fraction found in wheat gluten.

Complementary Foods may refer to foods that are added to an infant's diet when it is transitioning to solid foods from breast feeding. Complementary foods may also refer to combining foods that together improve the protein quality of the diet. In the latter context, it is not necessary to eat these foods at the same meal.

Complex Carbohydrate is the term given to polysaccharides which are composed of amylose and amylopectin and are generally called starch and fiber.

Dehydration is the condition whereby an individual has reduced body stores of water. It may be caused by inadequate intake or excessive losses (e.g., diahrrea or vomiting).

Electrolytes refer to sodium and potassium, two essential minerals utilized in the body.

Energy Intake refers to the amount of kilocalories per day that an individual consumes.

Enriched refers to the process of adding nutrients back to a food that lost nutrients during processing in order to meet a specified standard.

Essential Amino Acids refer to those amino acids which cannot be synthesized at all or in sufficient amounts by humans and therefore must be obtained in diets. The newer name for this category of amino acids is indispensable amino acids. There are 9 essential amino acids for children because of their rapid growth needs and 8 essential amino acids for adults.

Essential Fatty Acids refer to those fatty acids which cannot be synthesized by humans and therefore must be obtained in diets.

Fortification is a process by which nutrients are added to foods in order to deliver higher nutritional value than the food has in its natural state.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat. It helps provide structure to yeast raised and baked food products. It contains the allergen which causes gluten enteropathy.

Gluten Enteropathy is a chronic nutritional disorder characterized by diarrhea and malabsorption. Treatment requires the removal of the allergen, gluten, a protein in wheat.

Glycemic Index is a method for evaluating a food's potential for raising blood glucose upon its ingestion. Usually white bread or white table sugar is set at 100 and other foods are compared to it. Glycemic Index is obtained in human feeding studies wherein blood glucose is sampled at regular intervals in fasted individuals upon the consumption of a specified amount of a particular food. Data is used to plot a curve for each food in order to determine how rapid and how high blood glucose rises after food consumption and how long blood glucose stays elevated. Glycemic index does not tell you how much carbohydrate is in a food. Glycemic Load is calculated using both glycemic index and the amount of carbohydrate in a food.

Glycemic Load is determined by multiplying the glycemic index by the actual grams of carbohydrate in a food. For example, a carrot has 4 grams of carbohydrate and a glycemic index of 131. So the glycemic load is 131% X 4 = 5. By contrast, a cup of cooked pasta has a glycemic index of 71 and 40 grams of carbohydrate so the glycemic load is 71% X 40 = 28.

Golden Rice is the term used for genetically enhanced rice which contains beta carotene.

Lactose Intolerance refers to the inability to tolerate dietary lactose (milk sugar) because of a lack of the enzyme lactase in sufficient amounts to digest lactose. Lactose intolerance may also occur as a result of changes in the gastrointestinal tract secondary to diarrhea or disease. Treatment is the removal of lactose (milk products) from the diet.

Limiting Amino Acids refers to essential amino acids in a food protein which fall short of meeting the amino acids required by humans. The limiting amino acids are determined by comparing the amount of amino acids in a gram of protein to the amount of amino acids per gram of protein required, for example, by 2-5 year old children (as determined by the FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Protein Quality, 1991).

Macronutrients refer to dietary protein, fat and carbohydrate. The macronutrients are also called energy nutrients because they provide fuel to the body and upon combustion in a lab device yield heat measured in calories.

Micronutrients refer to vitamins and minerals.

Non-essential Amino Acids are amino acids that can be synthesized by humans. A more current name for this category of amino acids is dispensable amino acids. These amino acids are essential for synthesis of body proteins but are not required in diets, since humans can make them if adequate precursors are available.

Nutrient Density is a term used to describe the amount and variety of micronutrients per caloric density of a food.

Parboiled rice is rough rice (rice with the inedible outside hull intact) soaked in warm water under pressure, steamed and dried before milling. Parboiled rice can be milled to produce brown or white rice. Parboiling results in shorter cooking time.

PDCAAS refers to Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score, a method of determining protein quality. To obtain the PDCAAS, a protein's amino acid content for 9 essential amino acids is compared to the amino acid requirements of 2-5 year old children (as determined by the FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Protein Quality, 1991). The resulting score for the most limiting amino acid is corrected for the food's digestibility. For example, the most limiting amino acid in rice protein is lysine which contains 62 % of the 2-5 year old child's needs for that amino acid per gram of protein. The digestibility of rice is 88%. So if the 62% of lysine present for use is corrected for digestibility (0.62 X 0.88 = 0.55), then the resulting amount presumed to be bioavailable is 55%. Thus the PDCAAS for rice is calculated to be 0.55.

Precursor refers to a substance that precedes other substances. For example beta carotene is a precursor for vitamin A since it is converted into vitamin A in the body.

Simple Carbohydrates refer to disaccharides (two molecule sugars) such as sucrose (table sugar) and refers to monosaccharides (one molecule sugars) such as glucose and fructose.

Tolerable Upper Intake Level is a term referring to the upper level of dietary intake of a vitamin or mineral without toxicity occurring.

Ultra Rice is a technology for adding nutrients to rice by fortifying cooked, extruded rice flour which resembles rice in the final form and is added in a predetermined ratio to unfortified rice. The rice blend with added Ultra Rice can be washed without loss of nutrients and cooked like regular rice.