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'Boden Food Plate': Novel Interactive Web-based Method for the Assessment of Dietary Intake
Published on: September 18, 2018
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A harmonised approach for identifying core foods for total diet studies
Niamh F C Devlin1, Breige A McNulty, Aida Turrini
1a Institute of Food & Health , University College Dublin , Dublin , Ireland.
Summary
Harmonized guidelines for Total Diet Studies (TDS) were developed using European food consumption data. This approach ensures accurate dietary exposure assessments for risk analysis and health monitoring across diverse populations.
Area of Science:
- Food safety and toxicology
- Dietary exposure assessment
- European food consumption analysis
Background:
- Total Diet Studies (TDS) are crucial for assessing chemical exposure from food, informing risk assessments and health monitoring.
- Accurate population exposure estimates require selecting candidate foods that represent a significant portion of the typical diet.
- Currently, a lack of harmonized guidelines for food selection in TDS hinders consistent application across regions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the development of a harmonized approach for selecting foods for Total Diet Studies (TDS) applicable across Europe.
- To establish consistent methodologies for generating TDS food lists that accurately reflect population dietary habits.
- To support regulatory bodies like the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in standardizing TDS practices.
Main Methods:
- Utilized summary statistics data from the EFSA Comprehensive Food Consumption Database, encompassing national food consumption surveys from Europe.
- Employed a methodology for food selection based on the weight of food consumed and consumer prevalence rates.
- Generated 59 distinct TDS food lists representing over 51,000 individuals across 17 European countries and seven distinct population groups.
Main Results:
- The developed TDS food lists consistently represented over 85% of the studied populations' diets (ranging from 85.9% to 96.3%).
- The number of food items included in the TDS lists varied between 15 and 102, demonstrating adaptability to different dietary scopes.
- Commonly consumed foods identified included wheat bread, pastries, tomatoes, apples, bananas, and chicken; popular beverages were cow's milk, tap water, and orange juice.
Conclusions:
- A harmonized methodology for selecting foods for Total Diet Studies (TDS) in Europe is feasible and effective.
- The generated food lists provide a robust basis for estimating dietary exposure across diverse European populations.
- This work supports the future development and implementation of harmonized TDS by EFSA and other relevant institutions.
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