Fig. 1

Flow chart of the NEVO code Reassignment Protocol. A NEVO code was assigned to each relinking combination according to the NEVO codes of the same food with the most similar descriptor combinations that have been linked by dieticians during the survey period. The combinations received a positive score for each identical pair of descriptors (equal to the maximum normalized %IncMSEs) and a penalty for descriptors that were different (equal to the negative maximum normalized %IncMSEs). The scores were summed, and the NEVO code of the food-descriptor combination with the highest score was assigned to the combination that needed to be relinked. In case there were more than one NEVO codes with the same highest score, or when no descriptors were left for a food item, the NEVO code of a food-descriptor combination with a higher consumed quantity would be selected. In case the consumed quantities were also the same (occurred in 38 cases), a researcher decided on NEVO code selection