The nutrient trace elements chromium, iron and zinc as well as cobalt, rubidium and scandium were determined in dry spaghetti
sauce samples from the Greek market by instrumental neutron activation analysis. The results were evaluated according to the
new US Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA), US Adequate Intake (AI), US Reference Values for nutrition labeling (RVNL) and
European Union reference values for nutrition labeling (EURV). Moreover, the same data has been used with pattern recognition
techniques in order to classify the sauce samples according to their labeled flavor. The evaluation showed that the nutrition
rate depends strongly on the reference value under consideration. The spaghetti sauces studied are a good source for the covering
of chromium daily AI. The same sauces are poor source for zinc daily needs of the organism (RDA, RVNL), but they are a moderate
source for iron daily needs (RDA). The application of cluster analysis, of linear discriminant analysis and of the principal
component analysis classified the spaghetti sauce samples according to their labeled taste successfully. In addition using
the same techniques, another classification in red and white spaghetti sauces is carried out according to their tomato content.