The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has released the agency’s Total Diet Study Report.
The report is an essential tool that helps the FDA prioritize food safety and nutrition efforts, the agency said in a news release.
“This report is our first in a series on [fiscal year 2018 to fiscal year 2020 total diet study] data and summarizes our most recent data on nutrients and toxic elements from the agency’s ongoing survey of the U.S. food supply,” the FDA said in news release.
The report debuts the FDA’s new study design, the release said, which was implemented in 2018 to increase the quality of the data and improve the agency’s dietary exposure assessments.
For the fiscal year 2018 to fiscal year 2020 reporting cycle, 307 foods (including foods, beverages and water) were analyzed for 25 elements (both nutrients and toxic elements), according to the release.
Select nutrients included calcium, iodine, iron and potassium and are regularly analyzed because inadequate intakes of these nutrients can lead to poor health outcomes, according to the release.
The study also tests for select toxic elements, such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury, which have been prioritized by the FDA for taking action to reduce exposure to these substances through food, as detailed in the agency’s Closer to Zero Action Plan, because babies and young children are more vulnerable to their harmful effects.
