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FDA Posts Updated Results for its Total Diet Study
July 11, 2014
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today the availability of updated data for its Total Diet Study (TDS), an ongoing program that measures levels of certain chemical contaminants and nutrients in foods. The newly available data provide findings from foods collected from 2006 to 2011.
The FDA uses the data to analyze for trends to better understand if changes over time are significant. For example, the agency found statistically significant declines in sodium contents of several processed foods.
The TDS program, also known as the FDA’s “market-basket survey,” samples a broad variety of commodities commonly eaten or drunk in the United States. It includes approximately 280 foods and beverages in all. The TDS is distinctive among monitoring programs in that it analyzes the presence of the chemical contaminants and nutrients in foods as they would be eaten (“table ready”), as opposed to in raw foods. This approach helps the agency to more accurately estimate exposure through food and beverages. In conducting its TDS research, the FDA collects food samples in cities throughout the country, buying foods from grocery stores and restaurants.
The FDA makes the TDS data available so that others in the scientific community can access and examine them. The newly posted updates report the levels of four toxic elements (arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury) and 12 nutritional elements (calcium, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, phosphorus, selenium, sodium and zinc) in food. The updates include a report and individual analytical results.
The TDS was established in 1961 as a program to monitor for radioactive contamination of foods. Since its inception, the program has expanded to encompass pesticide residues, industrial chemicals, and toxic and nutrient elements. These ongoing analyses enable the FDA to monitor trends and potential risks to the public health.
The FDA recommends that consumers eat a varied, well-balanced diet, consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
For more information on the TDS program, and to see the newly posted report and individual analytical results, visit the TDS main page on FDA.Gov.
Total Diet Study
Introduction
The Total Diet Study (TDS), sometimes called the market basket study, is an ongoing FDA program that determines levels of various contaminants and nutrients in foods. From this information, dietary intakes of those analytes by the U.S. population can be estimated. Since its inception in 1961 as a program to monitor for radioactive contamination of foods, the TDS has grown to encompass additional analytes, including pesticide residues, industrial chemicals, and toxic and nutrient elements. A unique aspect of the TDS is that foods are prepared as they would be consumed (table-ready) prior to analysis, so the analytical results provide the basis for realistic estimates of the dietary intake of these analytes.
This website provides an overview of FDA's TDS and access to analytical results (data summaries as well as individual results for each food) from mid-1991 to the present. (Data prior to this time are not available in electronic format.) Other information (including the list of TDS foods, sample collection sites and dates, and the TDS diets used for calculating dietary intakes) are also provided on this website.
Individuals who intend to use either the data summaries or individual analytical results are urged to review all the information provided here to ensure a good understanding of the study and the data.
Browse the links below to find more specific information on:
TDS food lists and consumption amounts (TDS diets)
Market basket collection sites and dates
List of references related to the TDS
*Previously Office of Plant and Dairy Foods.
†This document was originally issued April 2001, and updated June 2003, September 2004, September 2005, August 2006, March 2007 and July 2008.
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