Heads of Governments of the seven countries signed a charter for the promotion of peace, stability, amity and progress in the region. SAARC is one of the most populous regions of the world with a population of over 1.2 billion. The region is characterized by vast size, overpopulation (over 1.2 billion), diversi"ed agroclimatic conditions with a variety of foods and food ingredients grown, multiethnicity, diversi"ed socio-economic development and lifestyle. Despite growing various kinds of foods, the region is vulnerable to malnutrition a!ecting infants, children, pregnant and lactating women. The availability of reliable food composition data for the region is essential to address the problems of malnutrition which have the highest rate of prevalence in the region when compared to the rest of the world. SAARCFOODS was established in 1996 as a regional centre of INFOODS to cater for the regional needs relating to the generation and exchange of food composition data at the regional and global levels. SAARCFOODS has held two meetings in Pakistan and Nepal and identi"ed needed activities for the region. Several committees/working groups have been constituted to deal with issues of data generation, compilation and dissemination. With the exception of Bhutan and Maldives, all member countries have their own food composition tables. All of these are incomplete with respect to the number of foods and the number of nutrients analysed. The methodology used is obsolete and most laboratories capable of food analysis are handicapped by the non-availability of sophisticated equipment and consumables, expert analysts, appropriate methodology, required funding and well-de"ned food composition programmes. There is a lack of quality control and quality assurance activity. A defective and limited food control programme exists only in the urban areas where only 20}30% of the population reside. This paper reviews the status of food composition data at the national, regional and global levels.