In chemical food safety, dietary exposure to food chemicals is a key step in assuring that substances present in food are safe for consumers. This is the case regardless of whether the substance is a contaminant or is intentionally added; therefore, everything from flavourings, additives, food packaging migrants,  contaminants, pesticides, and even some nutrients require risk assessment in order to assure their safe presence in food. Determining dietary exposure to food chemicals requires data on how foods are consumed and the chemical occurrence in those foods. A number of approaches to dietary exposure exist, from simple deterministic screening methods to more refined techniques requiring detailed data on food consumption habits and chemical occurrence. Knowing which technique to use depends on the chemical in question and the specific needs in the exposure scenario. Typically, a tiered approach to assessing exposure is followed. This symposium will present an overview of current approaches that can be used to assess dietary exposure to food chemicals, as well as some case specific studies demonstrating how these techniques have been applied in practice. Exposure models addressed will include screening methods that are used for routine risk assessment, refined high-tier probabilistic models, and methods that can be used for cumulative risk assessment or chemical mixtures. Case studies will include fluoride, as a contaminant in tea, and Vitamin A, which is present in personal care products and cosmetics, but potentially toxic at high levels of exposure.

Presentations