The EFSA Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database

The Comprehensive Food Consumption Database is a source of information on food consumption across the European Union (EU). It contains detailed data for a number of EU countries. The database plays a key role in the evaluation of the risks related to possible hazards in food in the EU and allows estimates of consumers’ exposure to such hazards, a fundamental step in EFSA’s risk assessment work. The database was also relevant for other fields of EFSA’s work, such as the assessment of nutrient intakes of the EU population. EFSA used its food classification system ‘FoodEx’ to categorise all foods and beverages included in the Comprehensive Database. Summary statistics from the database enable quick screening for chronic and acute exposure to substances and organisms that may be found in the food chain. In the database, dietary surveys and food consumption data for each country are divided by category. These include: age, from infants to adults aged 75 years or older; food group (over 1,500) and type of consumption, covering both regular and high consumption thus allowing calculations to be tailored to each category of consumer. The statistics on food consumption are reported in grams per day (g/day) and grams per day per kg of body weight (g/kg bw per day). The statistics for chronic food consumption are available for the total population (‘all subjects’) and for consumers of respective food categories. The statistics for acute consumption are available for all days and for the consuming days. These food consumption statistics are stored and presented in the EFSA Data Warehouse.