WP9 Implementation of TDS methodology on country level – pilot studies

Objectives:

• Harmonise and implement basic TDS methodology on national or regional level in different European countries
• Perform national or regional TDS pilot studies to collect practical information on feasibility of harmonized TDS

This WP will result in implementation and feasibility testing of harmonised TDS methodology that will be tested in limited number (5) of countries that have not harmonized or even have no TDS programme and thus will benefit to a large extent from the uptake of the methodology and lead to best practice in creating a TDS programme and consistency in TDS results across MS and CC. This WP is broken into 9 tasks. Six tasks are required for the harmonisation and implementation of basic TDS methodology, while three others are related to the pilot studies required to test feasibility. The outcome and experiences from this WP can be directly used for organization of routine national TDS studies in other EU MS and CC after the finalisation of the project and therefore will save money on national level of participants and also in other countries which will implement TDS methodology later on. Individual partners will develop (9.1) specific (national) food list defining food items to be sampled for kitchen preparation and chemical analyses, (9.2) list of standardized cooking recipes reflecting typical kitchen preparation of sampled foods, (9.3) country specific sampling protocol defining quantity, frequency, places, seasons, and other possible factors needed for standardised sample collection, (9.4) protocol for sample composition and/or aggregation including additional pre-analytical procedures needed before laboratory analyses and finally (9.5) protocol for pre-laboratory treatment involving all specific sample manipulation before terminal analytical process in accredited chemical laboratories. Processes will be described in harmonized Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) (9.9). When TDS methodology is appropriately described in SOPs, participants will organize a one year pilot study (9.6) to test feasibility of described procedures. Sampling period will cover seasons of the year and population (or population subgroup) “total” diet in participating countries. Samples will be analysed for a limited number of selected chemical substances (e.g. heavy metals, minerals, etc.). Analytical results will be used for calculation of exposure doses, (9.7) they will be compared between countries and results will be published (9.8).

Work package leader: SZU (National Institute of Public Health in Prague)