The U.K. Total Diet Study and 1995 Selenium Intakes

The UK Total Diet Study (TDS), which is carried out on an ongoing basis, is a model of the national average domestic diet in the UK. A total of 121 categories of food and drink are specified for inclusion in the Total Diet; these are assigned to one of twenty food groups. The types and quantities of foods that make up the Total Diet are largely based on consumption data from the National Food Survey. Food samples are purchased at fortnightly intervals from different locations, prepared according to normal consumer practice, combined into food groups, homogenised and frozen, before being analysed for a range of food constituents. The Total Diet Study can provide an estimate of the average intake of any food constituent of current concern or interest and has recently been used to estimate and monitor intake of selenium in the UK.