Overview
Total Diet Studies\xa0introduces the TDS concept to a wider audience and presents steps in the planning and implementation of a TDS. It illustrates how TDSs are being used to protect public health from chemicals in the food supply in many developed and developing countries. The book also examines applications of TDSs to specific chemicals, including contaminants and nutrients.The goal of a total diet study is to provide basic information on the levels and trends of exposure to chemicals in foods as consumed by the population. Total diet studies have been used to assess the safe use of agricultural chemicals, food additives, environmental contaminants, processing contaminants, and natural contaminants by determining whether dietary exposure to these chemicals is within acceptable limits. Total diet studies can also be applied to certain nutrients where the goal is to ensure intakes are not only below safe upper limits, but also above levels deemed necessary to maintain good health. International and national organizations, such as the World Health Organization, the European Food Safety Agency, and the US Food and Drug Administration recognize the TDS approach as one of the most cost-effective means of protecting consumers from chemicals in food, for providing essential information for managing food safety, including food standards, and for setting priorities for further investment and study. Editors Gerald G.\xa0Moy was responsible for the exposure assessment of chemical hazards and coordinated total diet studies at the international level through a network of WHO Collaborating Centers.\xa0 Richard W. Vannoort, a senior scientist with the Institute of Environmental Science & Research Ltd (ESR), has been the scientific project leader of the last five New Zealand Total Diet Surveys.
