1 research outputs found
Towards a Harmonised Total Diet Study Approach: a guidance document:joint guidance of EFSA, FAO and WHO
A Total Diet Study (TDS) can be a complementary approach to traditional monitoring and surveillance
programs, which instead of focusing on compliance is designed to provide a solid basis for calculating
population dietary exposure and assessing potential impact on public health. A TDS includes the
selection of foods based on food consumption data to represent a large portion of a typical diet, their
preparation to food as consumed and the subsequent pooling of related foods before analysis. There is
already a wealth of international TDS data available, but to better enable comparisons it is important
that methods are harmonised to the extent possible. The Working Group of experts provides a definition
of the TDS approach highlighting its inherent value; it gives guidance for a harmonised methodology
starting from the TDS planning to the collection of analytical results, exposure assessment calculation
and communication of TDS results; and it proposes a general approach to facilitate the use of TDS
information at international level. A TDS can be used for screening purposes or as a more refined exposure
assessment tool. It provides background concentration and exposure levels of chemical substances in a
range of representative foods prepared for consumption, while monitoring and surveillance programs
can better capture highly contaminated individual food items. Their complementarities would allow the
identification of the relative importance of individual sources of chemical substances from the whole diet.
In conclusion, a TDS is considered to be a good complement to existing food monitoring or surveillance
programs to estimate population dietary exposure to beneficial and harmful chemical substances across
the entire diet. Harmonising the TDS methodology will enhance the value of these programs by improving
the comparability at international level