Niels Lyhne Andersen

A Model of Hygiene Practices and Consumption Patterns in the Consumer Phase

A mathematical model is presented, which addresses individual hygiene practices during food preparation and consumption patterns in private homes. Further, the model links food preparers and consumers based on their relationship to household types. For different age and gender groups, the model estimates (i) the probability of ingesting a meal where precautions have not been taken to avoid the transfer of microorganisms from raw food to final meal (a risk meal), exemplified by the event that the cutting board was not washed during food preparation, and (ii) the probability of ingesting a risk meal in a private home, where chicken was the prepared food item (a chicken risk meal). Chicken was included in the model, as chickens are believed to be the major source of human exposure to the foodborne pathogen Campylobacter. Monte Carlo simulations showed that the probability of ingesting a risk meal was highest for young males (aged 18-29 years) and lowest for the elderly above 60 years of age. Children aged 0-4 years had a higher probability of ingesting a risk meal than children aged 5-17 years. This difference between age and gender groups was ascribed to the variations in the hygiene levels of food preparers. By including the probability of ingesting a chicken meal at home, simulations revealed that all age groups, except the group above 60 years of age, had approximately the same probability of ingesting a chicken risk meal, the probability of females being slightly higher than that of males. The simulated results show that the probability of ingesting a chicken risk meal at home does not only depend on the hygiene practices of the persons preparing the food, but also on the consumption patterns of consumers, and the relationship between people preparing and ingesting food. This finding supports the need of including information on consumer behavior and preparation hygiene in the consumer phase of exposure assessments.

Intake of ruminant trans fatty acids in the Danish population aged 1-80 years

Objective:To estimate the intake of ruminant trans fatty acids (TFA) in the Danish population aged 1–80 years.Design:Descriptive study.Subjects:A sex- and age-stratified random sample drawn from the Danish Civil Registration System. A total of 3098 participants (51% female) aged 1–80 years were included. The participation was 66%.Dietary information:A 7-day dietary record.Results:The estimated median intake of ruminant TFA was 1.4 g/day with the 80% central range being from 0.9 to 2.1 among children aged 1–6 years and 1.6 g/day (1.0–2.4) among children aged 7–14 years. The median TFA intake was 1.8 g/day (0.9–2.9) among adults aged 15–29 years and among adults aged 30–80 years. The intake expressed as percentage of energy intake was 0.8, 0.6, 0.7, and 0.7, respectively. Dairy products were the main source of ruminant TFA.Conclusions:The median intake of ruminant TFA in the Danish population aged 1–80 years is estimated to be 1.7 g/day (0.9–2.7), corresponding to 0.7% of energy intake (0.5–1.0), with dairy products being the main source of ruminant TFA.Sponsorship:The Danish Heart Foundation (Grants 02-2-9-8-22010 and 03-2-9-4-22087) and the Female Researchers in Joint Action (FREJA) programme from the Danish Medical Research Council.

How to reach a common estimate of high dietary micronutrient intakes for safe addition of vitamins and minerals to foods

Background: A central element in establishing maximum amount of micronutrients in fortified foods and supplements is to reach to an agreement on how to estimate high intakes of vitamins and minerals from the European diet. Objective: To examine whether ratios between the 95th percentile and mean intakes of vitamins and minerals show similarities across different countries independent of dietary habits and survey methods and if so, to suggest a simple and pragmatic way to calculate common estimates of high micronutrient intakes from foods. Design: Intake data of selected vitamins and minerals from nine European countries were examined for adult females and males and for children aged 4–10 and 11–17 years. The ratios between the 95th percentile and mean intakes were calculated for each micronutrient, country, and age group. Results: The ratios for each micronutrient follow a fairly regular pattern across countries and survey methods with differences between age groups. The nutrients fall into three categories: nutrients with ratios between 1.45 and 1.58 – energy, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, iron, vitamin B6, niacin, and folate; nutrients with ratios between 1.67 and 1.79 – calcium, selenium, vitamin E, iodine, and copper; nutrients with ratios between 2.08 and 2.32 – vitamin A, vitamin D, and retinol. Conclusion: Sufficiently precise estimates of high micronutrient intakes across European countries can be reached by multiplying the overall average of ratios (P95/mean intakes) for each micronutrient with the corresponding mean intakes from all available dietary surveys in Europe. This approach is a simple and pragmatic way to create common European estimates of high micronutrient intakes from foods.