Food consumption estimates are of increasing interest in the Public Health area, as a means of supporting and guiding Food Safety and Nutrition measures.

The availability of up-to-date and accurate food consumption data has an essential role in risk assessment, as it permits the calculation of consumer exposure to potential risks (chemical, biological contaminants, etc.).

This data is obtained by conducting food surveys, which must be designed and performed so as to ensure that the data is highly reliable. These are individual food surveys, in which tools are applied (photographic atlas, specific computer applications, etc.) that permit the accurate calculation of the quantities consumed.

The dietary surveys or food or consumption surveys provide a quantitative and qualitative estimate of a food or group of foods in an individual over a set period of time.

In Europe, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has developed different activities, aimed at standardising the surveys:

• Publication of the guidance document on the requirements that surveys must satisfy in order for their data to be incorporated into the European database http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/3944
• EU Menu Project, aimed at the collection of more harmonised food consumption data in European countries. http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/datexfoodcdb/datexeumenu
• Creation of the EFSA Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/datexfoodcdb/datexfooddb

In Spain, AECOSAN is actively participating in the EU Menu project. The ENALIA survey conducted on infants and adolescents has ended and the ENALIA 2 survey of the adult population up to the age of 75, also including a small sample of pregnant women, is nearing the end.