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The ASA24 system has over 17,000 portion size image files that are linked to portions in USDA's Food and Nutrition Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS). These images are freely available for use.
The images for versions 2011-2022 are PNG formatted files and are available in the compressed file Asa24PortionImages.zip [ZIP]. Included in the zip file is an Excel file named ASA24_ImageMetadata.xlsx. This Excel workbook contains three sheets. The sheet named ReadMe describes the metadata in the other two sheets. Beginning with ASA24-2022, version specific image files will be made available. The images used in the ASA24-2022 are linked here.
Images were developed by Children's Nutrition Research Center at the Baylor College of Medicine from 2002 to 2012. After 2012, Westat developed images for the ASA24 system.
Initially, the images were intended to aid children estimating portion amounts in the context of a computerized 24-hour dietary recall for 8-15 year olds. In 2006, Baylor College of Medicine, Westat, and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) initiated a collaboration that resulted in the expansion of this image database in preparation for the release of the ASA24 system for adults.
The Australian version uses a subset of the images described above as well as 650 new Australia-specific images to account for differences between the U.S. and Australia in types of food and portion sizes consumed.
Specifications About the Digital PhotographyASA24 is a registered trademark of HHS.