Food surveillance in the Basque country (Spain) I. The design of a total diet study

Abstract

A total diet study has been initiated in the Basque country (Spain), the purpose of which is to provide estimates of the average intake of both food contaminants and certain nutrients. The types and quantities of foods that make up the average Basque 'Total Diet' are based on the results of surveys carried out between 1988 and 1990. These surveys have identified the major items in the national diet (91 categories of foods) which are combined for the total diet study, for analysis, into 16 groups of similar foods. Each group is being analysed for selected contaminants of concern which initially are: heavy metals (mercury, lead, cadmium and arsenic), organochlorine pesticides (HCB, HCH (alpha, beta, gamma, delta), DDT (DDE, TDE), dieldrin, aldrin, endrin, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide, endosulfan and methoxychlor) and selected trace element nutrients (zinc, selenium and iron). In the milk and dairy products groups an assessment of aflatoxin M1 contamination is also being carried out.

Estimation and validation of mercury intake associated with fish consumption in an EPIC cohort of Spain

“…The 91 products making up the market basket are purchased each month in a different town in the Basque Country. These towns are selected each year among those having over 5000 inhabitants using a random sampling system in which the probability of being selected is greater for those towns with a greater number of inhabitants 25,26 . This programme performs periodic measurements of chemical contaminants existing in the foods that make up the average diet of the Basque population.…”

Opinion of the Scientific Panel on contaminants in the food chain [CONTAM] related to Hexachlorobenzene as undesirable substance in animal feed

“…This is mainly due to the considerably higher intake of dairy products which represent around 77 % of the HCB intake by elite sportsmen and sportswomen (Falco et al, 2005). Similar intake levels as for the general population in Catalonia were estimated in the 1990s for the Basque region in Spain (Urieta et al, 1996), The Netherlands (Brussaard et al, 1996) and Sweden (Vaz, 1995), reporting mean HCB intakes of 2.9, 1.4 -3.1 and 5 ng/kg b.w. per day, respectively.…”

Study Design of a TotalReference Diet for a Population inNorthern Italy

“…In table 3 the data from our reference diet, from the INN (National Institute of Nutrition) survey, which considered a larger survey from the same region [17], and from the 'Basque' food survey [18] are reported.…”