Total diet studies in the Indian context

Abstract

The food safety concerns in India are different from other countries due to the fact that dietary habits are so different. The foremost food safety concern among Indians is food adulteration. The concern for contaminants like pesticide residues and toxic metals in food is a more recent phenomenon. The type of contaminants to be included in the total diet study depends on foods selected and the possibility of the particular contaminant being present in that food. A total diet study has been conducted in Andhra Pradesh State in South India. Twenty-two types of foods belonging to eleven food categories were selected for the study. The choice was made on the basis of most commonly consumed foods in Andhra Pradesh. The food samples were prepared as they are normally consumed, that is ready-to-eat, before they were analyzed. A total of 503 food samples were taken for analysis of contaminants. Since water is a component of food, water samples were also collected. The contaminants, namely heavy metals (lead, cadmium), fluoride, mycotoxins (aflatoxins B 1, fumonisin B 1 and aflatoxin M 1) and pesticides were analyzed in food samples that were highly likely to contain the particular contaminant. From the above food lists, specific food-contaminant combinations that might result in high exposure were identified for analysis. The results of the total diet study reveal that the dietary exposures of contaminants investigated are generally much lower than the health references for all the age groups with average consumption. In specific cases, where the concentrations of contaminants were high or where the consumption of a particular food was high, the risk for toxicity may be higher. At maximum food consumption levels in certain cohorts, exposure to contaminants, like cadmium, significantly exceeded safe or tolerable limits. Risk assessment in vulnerable populations, like pregnant women, should be undertaken accurately, as even the lowest concentration of certain persistent organic pollutants may cause harm to the developing fetus or lead to adverse health outcomes later in life. Total diet studies are useful tools for assessing exposure to toxic chemicals in the diet and should be expanded to include other States in India.