Meeting report of the 1st Asia-Pacific Regional workshop on total diet studies

Overview

With our diet, we ingest many substances every day, which can either be beneficial or potentially harmful. The chronic exposure to some of these substances can lead to health concerns.

The identification of critical compounds in our food and the determination of their levels can be conducted by means of Total Diet Studies (TDS). By combining levels of substances in foods with food consumption data, the dietary exposure of populations and associated risks can be assessed. Policy makers may consider these risks to make informed decisions, in order to protect the safety of our food.

Several global workshops on TDS were carried out in the past. From the first workshop in Kansas City (1999) to the most recent in Berlin (2022), significant progress was made in this field. Over the years, methods were optimised, knowledge was gained, and an exchange between TDS-supporting countries was achieved. Furthermore, more and more low- and middle-income countries either initiated or showed interest in conducting a TDS.

In order to continue sharing expertise and to promote and support implementation of TDS, with a focus on Asia and the Pacific regions, the first Regional TDS Workshop was co-sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) and held in Seoul in June 2025. During two days of conference, representatives of numerous TDS-supporting countries presented their results and recent developments by oral and poster presentations. The aim of the event was to share about of ongoing TDS experience and to provide a space for fostering future collaboration and synergies in this area.