Tuesday, 29 April 2025
To assist the FSAI with its next total diet survey, the Scientific Committee was tasked with proposing a parameter and food list for inclusion in the study.
Food safety risk assessment is a process of identifying hazards in food and quantifying or qualifying their impact on health at estimated concentrations ingested by the population. In the field of chemical risk assessment for food safety there are a number of approaches that provide estimates of health impact with differing levels of uncertainty. Two such approaches are total diet study (TDS) and human biomonitoring study (HBS).
The FSAI has carried out two total diet studies and wishes to carry out an updated study in the near future. Hence the Scientific Committee was asked:
1. Are the food groups that were included in the previous TDS still relevant? Should other food groups be included due to changes in dietary patterns over the last ten years?
2. Are the chemical parameters included in the previous TDS appropriate, or should other chemicals regulated since also be considered for inclusion and are there any that no longer need to be included?
The FSAI also wishes to encourage human biomonitoring studies in Ireland to support better food safety risk management decisions to control chemical exposure from food. Hence the Scientific Committee was asked:
3. What biomarkers are most appropriate and feasible to support and enhance risk assessment in Ireland as necessary?
In developing this advice to the FSAI, the Scientific Committee was aided by its Chemical Safety Subcommittee who formed a Total Diet Study and Biomonitoring Working Group.
