The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published an overview of its Comprehensive Food Consumption Database, featuring details on food consumption for a number of EU countries. It also offers guidance on how summary statistics in the database can be used by food safety and public health experts.
The database assists in evaluating any risks or hazards in foods, as well as in the evaluation of how much consumers are exposed to these potential hazards, and also has applications in the assessment of nutrient intakes. The database’s collection of accurate, harmonized and detailed food consumption data at a European level is important for EFSA’s work and requires the cooperation of EU member states. EFSA is working with member states to develop food consumption surveys that will allow the collection and analysis of comparable data in EU countries. This initiative, known as “What’s on the Menu in Europe?,” now has several pilot studies under way that are due to be completed by 2012.
