Chemical contaminants are an important domestic and international food safety concern, from both the health and economic perspective. A number of countries conduct a Total Diet Study (TDS) to monitor chemical contaminants (e.g. pesticide residues, industrial contaminants, radionuclides, and heavy metals), as well as nutrient levels in foods. Combined with consumption data, a TDS can provide valuable insights into dietary exposure to these contaminants and nutrients, across the total population, and in relevant sub-populations, such as children and pregnant women. A TDS provides both a snapshot, in time, of the levels of contaminants and nutrients in foods; and, if conducted regularly, information about how they change over time. Hence, a TDS can be used as: 1) a screening tool, to monitor background levels of contaminants in foods; 2) a risk management tool to help set priorities and drive actions based on public health risk; and 3) an evaluation tool to identify trends or changes over time. TDS design may vary, depending on what information is needed, how a country’s food system operates, and the resources available for data collection.  This session aims to provide an introduction to the TDS as a long-term contaminant monitoring and public health tool and will describe how a TDS is conducted, as well as some of the major considerations and trade-offs that should be considered when designing a TDS. Audience members will gain a deeper understanding of how a TDS can be used to monitor chemical contaminants and nutrients in the food supply in relation to long-term, population-level exposures and how sampling design considerations, ultimately, affect the representativeness and precision of the study results.

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