Estimation of daily intake of food preservatives

The techniques that are available for estimating the intake of food preservatives are reviewed. These include per-capita, duplicate diet, diary records, food frequency, Total Diet and biomarker-based methods. Each approach has its merits and disadvantages and selection will depend upon a number of factors such as the reasons why the intake information is required, resource availability and the nature and extent of usage of the preservative. The application of these techniques is exemplified with reference to those that have been employed to estimate the dietary intake of nitrite and nitrate. It is concluded that such estimates are only as good as the analytical data upon which they are based and, in the case of nitrite, there is evidence to suggest that current data overestimate actual intake in the UK.