The 27th Australian Total Diet Study
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) released the results of the 27th Australian Total Diet Study (ATDS) this month.The Study gives FSANZ the opportunity to check on what is happening with our national diet , whilst also focussing in on different diet aspects each year.
This year the focus was on investigating the levels of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl (PFAS) in a range of foods and beverages common to the Australian diet.
In food related areas,PFAS have been used in the production of non stick cookware and food packaging and may be found in imported food.
Although there has not been evidence to date of health effects on humans in small quantities, there is evidence of harm in animal studies, so there is potential concern around the impact on the immune system about PFAS in food being consumed by people.
30 different types of PFAS were included in the Study, across 1336 composite samples. These represented 112 foods commonly eaten across all states and territories. To allow for seasonal variations, the samples were taken in both Autumn and Summer.
Only one type of PFAS was detected at very low levels in less that two percent of the foods sampled. So the Study has shown that Australian consumer exposure to PFAS was very low and therefore are not considered to be a food safety risk at this point.