Total Diet Study
Ingestion of excessive amounts of contaminants (such as lead,
mercury, arsenic, cadmium, PCBs, dioxins) and other chemicals
(such as pesticides) via food supply can have detrimental
effects on consumers' health. Thus, it is essential to
analyse the foods we eat for these contaminants and other
chemicals through the monitoring and surveillance programs to
check if the levels in foods and the dietary intakes of the
contaminants and other chemicals are within the national and
international guidelines.
The Total Diet Study, also known as Market Basket
Survey/Study, is recommended by the  World Health Organization (WHO) for
accurate estimates of dietary intakes of contaminants. Since
1969, Health Canada has conducted Total Diet Studies in five
different periods of time to estimate the levels of chemicals
to which Canadians in different age-sex groups are exposed
through the food supply. The first Total Diet Study was
conducted between 1969 and 1973, the second ran from 1976 to
1978, the third from 1985 to 1988, the fourth from 1992 to
1999, and the most recent one started in 2000. These studies
are organized by the Food Research Division in the Bureau of
Chemical Safety, and are supported by partners both within
Health Canada (e.g., the Nutrition Research and Evaluation
Divisions, the Regional Laboratories of the Health Products
and Food Branch, Pest Management
Regulatory Agency ) and outside of Health Canada (e.g., the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency).
Each study is conducted in several major Canadian cities over
the period, normally one city each year. For example, the
study from 1992 to 1999 was conducted in the following
cities:
-
Toronto in July 1992 and January 1996
-
Montreal in July 1993
-
Halifax and Winnipeg in January and July 1994,
respectively
-
Vancouver and Ottawa in January and July 1995,
respectively
-
Whitehorse in January 1998, and
-
Calgary in January 1999
For each city, each individual food item (there are about 210
individual food items for the current Canadian Total Diet
Study) is purchased from three to four supermarkets. The food
samples are sent to Kemptville College
where they are
processed as for consumption in the average household kitchen
(i.e., raw meats are cooked; fresh vegetables cooked or
properly peeled, trimmed or otherwise cleaned for serving if
not cooked). The processed foods are then mixed according to
each category to make composites (there are about 140
different food composites in the current study). The food
composites are analysed for toxic and nutritionally important
chemicals, and the measured concentrations are then combined
with food intake information to give estimates of the dietary
intakes of these chemicals for Canadians in the following 16
different age-sex groups:
-
0 - 1 month, male and female
-
2 - 3 months, male and female
-
4 - 6 months, male and female
-
7 - 9 months, male and female
-
10 - 12 months, male and female
-
1 - 4 years, male and female
-
5 - 11 years, male and female
-
12 - 19 years, male
-
20 - 39 years, male
-
40 - 64 years, male
-
65+ years, male
-
12 - 19 years, female
-
20 - 39 years, female
-
40 - 64 years, female
-
65+ years, female
-
All ages Canadians, male and female
Concentrations of contaminants and other chemicals in foods
and the dietary intakes for Canadians in different age-sex
groups from Total Diet Studies after 1992 are presented here
for information to the public. Please consult the list of
publications for the findings from previous Canadian Total
Diet Studies. This is the start of a process to make the
information from the surveillance programs of the Food
Research Division available to the public, and more findings
will be posted once available. For more information, please
contact:
Bureau of Chemical Safety
Health Products and Food Branch
Health Canada
Banting Building
Postal Locator 2203G2
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0L2
Telephone: (613) 957-0973
Fax: (613) 954-4674
E-mail: bcs-bipc@hc-sc.gc.ca
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