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TOTAL DIET STUDY
Description:
The Total Diet Study (TDS), sometimes called the Market Basket Study, is an ongoing FDA program that determines levels of various pesticide residues, contaminants, and nutrients in foods, for the purpose of estimating intakes of these substances in representative diets of specific age-sex groups in the U.S. population. To accomplish this goal, FDA personnel purchase foods from supermarkets or grocery stores four times per year, one from each of four geographic regions of the country. Each collection, referred to as a Market Basket (MB), is a composite of like foods purchased in three cities in a given region. The foods are prepared for consumption, i.e., as they will be eaten, and then analyzed. Dietary intake of each analyte is calculated from the levels found and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) food consumption data for each of the various age/sex groups.
