What's in your food – the BfR MEAL Study

ImprintPrinted extract from the BfR Annual Report 2015, p. 50–53

Publisher: German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR)Editor: BfR Press and Public Relations Photos: BfR: Cover, p. 04Layout: www.tangram.de, RostockPrint: Druck- und Verlagshaus Zarbock, Frankfurt am MainTranslation: ABC Sprachschule und Übersetzungsbüro, Niederkassel-MondorfNo. of copies printed: 300

This text version is a translation of the original German text which is the only legally binding version.

Annual Report 2015ISBN 978-3-943963-44-1ISSN 2199-4420 (print)ISSN 2199-4439 (online)

What's in your food – the BfR MEAL Study 03

In what quantities do we ingest undesired substances on average through our food? Are certain foods more contaminated than others? And what health effects does the preparation method have on the food?

Total Diet Studies – TDS for short – help to answer these and other questions. TDS is the name given to an international method which determines in which concentrations substances are contained in ready-to-eat foods. These can comprise beneficial as well as harmful substances. Developed in the USA in the mid-20th century, more than 50 countries have conducted their own total diet studies in the mean-time. The first total diet study for Germany was launched in 2015. The BfR was commissioned to do so by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL).

The first German total diet study is called the BfR MEAL Study and is scheduled to run for a total of seven years. For the first time in Ger-many, foods are being analysed systematically and representatively in ready-to-eat condition, i. e. prepared in the manner in which they are normally eaten. A separate kitchen is being built for this purpose at the BfR location in Alt-Marienfelde. Five scientists and a documentation as-sistant have been working on the study up to now and additional jobs are planned. The BMEL funded the study in 2015 to the tune of almost a million euros. Over the entire duration of the study, the BMEL will prob-ably spend a total of approx. 10 million euros for our partners involved in the project.

What's in your food – the BfR MEAL Study

>>The BfR MEAL Study is the most comprehensive total diet study worldwide with regard to both the number

of foods examined as well as the number of substances.

What's in your food – the BfR MEAL Study04

Compared to other TDS, the BfR MEAL Study is the most comprehen-sive worldwide with regard to both the number of foods examined as well as the number of substances. The BfR MEAL Study provides a representative reflection of German eating habits by covering at least 90 % of the foods consumed in Germany plus some rarely eaten foods if they are known to contain high levels of undesired substances. The examined substances include environmental contaminants, mycotox-ins, process contaminants, food additives, nutrients, pharmacologically effective substances and substances that migrate from packaging. In this way, the study closes data gaps for which there have been no sys-tematic studies in Germany up to now.

Foods of the same type are homogenised in the lab for the analysis.

What's in your food – the BfR MEAL Study 05

i More information (in German) on the BfR MEAL Study at: www.bfr-meal-studie.de

One of the main aims of the BfR MEAL Study is to generate content data that is representative of German eating habits. To this end, the foods consumed in Germany are aggregated into groups for each of which the scientists establish a representative pool from samples of the prepared foods. The pools can also be differentiated by certain criteria depending on the food and substance group examined, e. g. by regional and seasonal differences or by ecological or conventional cultivation. In this way, roughly 4,000 pooled samples will emerge from around 60,000 sub-samples over the coming years. In the basis mod-ule, the pools are examined for certain substance groups, including heavy metals and dioxins. Some of these pools and additional foods are further analysed in substance-specific modules for process con-taminants or food additives, for example. The modular structure of the BfR MEAL Study makes it possible to deal with the specific peculiarities of each substance group and address a large variety of issues.

The goal of the BfR MEAL Study is to better identify possible food risks for the German population. The first results will likely be available in late 2018/early 2019 in the form of recommendations for risk management and consumption recommendations. ||

Sequence of the BfR MEAL Study

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6

Selection of foods

Purchase throughout Germany

Preparation in the BfR kitchen

Pooling and homogenisation

Analysis Evaluation and exposure estimation

What's in your food – the BfR MEAL Study06

Nutrients

Heavy metals

Acrylamide

Nutrients

Heavy metals

Acrylamide

Nutrients

Heavy metals

Additives

Nutrients

Heavy metals

Additives

Nutrients

Heavy metals

Acrylamide

Nutrients

Heavy metals

Acrylamide

Nutrients

Heavy metals

Mycotoxins

Nutrients

Heavy metals

Mycotoxins

Regional

1

3

2

4

4

6

5

POTATOES

Organic

Super- market

Weeklymarket

Organicfood store

Discounter

Conventional

Rösti French fries Mashed potatoPotatoes

Rösti French fries

Mashed potato

Potatoes

Rösti French fries Mashed potatoPotatoes

PotatoesFrench �ies �ozen

Take away

Seasonal

80

60

40

20

0-5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Other ingredients

Shopping list

Cooking like at home

Analysis in the laboratory

Homogenisation / Pooling

Evaluation

Shopping

To compile the BfR MEAL shopping list, it was determined which food products are eaten most

frequently by consumers in Germany.

In the BfR MEAL kitchen, meals are prepared by using typical kitchen utensils and recipes the same way

German consumers do in their private households.

Couriers transport the samples to the lab, where they are analysed for nine substance groups – including nutrients, additives and substances migrating from food packaging.

The BfR MEAL team takes varying shopping habits into account: Regional and seasonal food products are bought in supermarkets, at weekly markets or at a discounter.

The BfR MEAL team prepares common samples of similar foods for analysis in the lab. Those samples are homogenised – in other words, mixed as in a smoothie blender.

At the BfR, the BfR MEAL team assesses which concentrations of substances consumers take in daily. The findings are used to derive recommendations for consumers.

For the first time in Germany, the BfR MEAL Study systematically and representatively analyses food in ready-to-eat condition.

i More information (in German) on the BfR MEAL Study at:

www.bfr-meal-studie.de

>>The goal of the BfR MEAL Study is to better identify possible food risks

for the German population.

German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR)Max-Dohrn-Straße 8–1010589 BerlinGERMANY

Phone +49 30 18412-0Fax +49 30 18412-4741bfr@bfr.bund.dewww.bfr.bund.de/en