Quantitative risk-benefit assessment of Portuguese fish and other seafood species consumption scenarios.

Portugal has high fish/seafood consumption, which may have both risks and benefits. This study aims to quantify the net health impact of hypothetical scenarios of fish/seafood consumption in the Portuguese population using a risk-benefit assessment methodology. Consumption data from the National Food, Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey 2015-2016 (n 5811) were used to estimate the mean exposure to methylmercury and EPA + DHA in the current and the alternative scenarios considered. Alternative scenarios (alt) were modelled using probabilistic approaches to reflect substitutions from the current consumption in the type of fish/seafood (alt1: excluding predatory fishes; alt2: including only methylmercury low-level fishes) or in the frequency of weekly fish/seafood consumption (alt3 to alt6: 1, 3, 5 or 7 times a week, replacing fish/seafood meals with meat or others). The overall health impact of these scenarios was quantified using disability-adjusted life years (DALY). In the Portuguese population, about 11 450 DALY could be prevented each year if the fish/seafood consumption increased to a daily basis. However, such a scenario would result in 1398 extra DALY considering the consumption by pregnant women and the respective risk on fetal neurodevelopment. Our findings support a recommendation to increase fish/seafood consumption up to 7 times/week. However, for pregnant women and children, special considerations must be proposed to avoid potential risks on fetal neurodevelopment due to methylmercury exposure.

A conceptual framework for the collection of food products in a Total Diet Study.

A total diet study (TDS) provides representative and realistic data for assessing the dietary intake of chemicals, such as contaminants and residues, and nutrients, at a population level. Reproducing the diet through collection of customarily consumed foods and their preparation as habitually eaten is crucial to ensure representativeness, i.e., all relevant foods are included and all potential dietary sources of the substances investigated are captured. Having this in mind, a conceptual framework for building a relevant food-shopping list was developed as a research task in the European Union's 7th Framework Program project, 'Total Diet Study Exposure' (TDS-Exposure), aimed at standardising methods for food sampling, analyses, exposure assessment calculations and modelling, priority foods, and selection of chemical contaminants. A stepwise approach following the knowledge translation (KT) model for concept analysis is proposed to set up a general protocol for the collection of food products in a TDS in terms of steps (characterisation of the food list, development of the food-shopping list, food products collection) and pillars (background documentation, procedures, and tools). A simple model for structuring the information in a way to support the implementation of the process, by presenting relevant datasets, forms to store inherent information, and folders to record the results is also proposed. Reproducibility of the process and possibility to exploit the gathered information are two main features of such a system for future applications.

Development of harmonised food and sample lists for total diet studies in five European countries.

A total diet study (TDS) is a public health tool for determination of population dietary exposure to chemicals across the entire diet. TDSs have been performed in several countries but the comparability of data produced is limited. Harmonisation of the TDS methodology is therefore desirable and the development of comparable TDS food lists is considered essential to achieve the consistency between countries. The aim of this study is to develop and test the feasibility of a method for establishing harmonised TDS food and sample lists in five European countries with different consumption patterns (Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Iceland and Portugal). The food lists were intended to be applicable for exposure assessment of wide range of chemical substances in adults (18-64 years) and the elderly (65-74 years). Food consumption data from recent dietary surveys measured on individuals served as the basis for this work. Since the national data from these five countries were not comparable, all foods were linked to the EFSA FoodEx2 classification and description system. The selection of foods for TDS was based on the weight of food consumed and was carried out separately for each FoodEx2 level 1 food group. Individual food approach was respected as much as possible when the TDS samples were defined. TDS food lists developed with this approach represented 94.7-98.7% of the national total diet weights. The overall number of TDS samples varied from 128 in Finland to 246 in Germany. The suggested method was successfully implemented in all five countries. Mapping of data to the EFSA FoodEx2 coding system was recognised as a crucial step in harmonisation of the developed TDS food lists.