No abstract

Cadmium is a ubiquitous and highly toxic contaminant that can cause serious adverse effects.The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) have shown that the risk related to food contamination by cadmium cannot be ruled out in Europe and France. Fertilizing material is one of the main sources of cadmium contamination in the food chain on which regulators can play to reduce cadmium exposure in the population. The aim of this work was to develop a mass-balance approach integrating the various environmental sources of cadmium to estimate the effects of a decrease in cadmium concentrations in crop fertilizers on dietary exposure and on the health risk. This approach led to a predictive model that can be used as a decision-making tool. Representative and protective fertilization scenarios associated with controlled cadmium levels in mineral phosphate fertilizers were simulated and converted into cadmium fluxes.Cadmium inputs from industrial mineral phosphate fertilizers were then compared with cadmium brought by the application of manure, sewage sludge and farm anaerobic digest, at the levels typical of French agricultural practices. Regardless of the fertilizer and scenario used, a flux lower than 2 g Cd.ha -1 .year -1 reduces both the accumulation in soils and the transfer of cadmium in the food chain. It corresponds to a cadmium content of 20 mg.kg P2O5 -1 or less in mineral phosphate fertilizers. Modelling the transfer of cadmium from the soil to consumed food made it possible to propose cadmium limits in fertilizers applied in France. In a global context of ecological transition to promote human health, this research will help risk managers and public authorities in the regulatory decision-making process for the reduction of environmental cadmium contamination and human exposure.

The relations between dietary features and human health are varied and complex. Health-related variables are many and they have intricate relations at different and interrelated nutritional levels: nutrients, food groups, and the complex overall pattern. Food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) are principally designed to synthesize this information to make it available to the public. Here, we describe the method used to establish healthy eating patterns (HEPs) for the latest French FBDGs, which consists of in-depth food pattern modeling using an enhanced optimization method that gathered all aspects of HEPs. We present the novelty of this food modeling approach for FBDGs, which aims to gather information related to nutrients, food contaminants, and epidemiological relations with long-term health, and to be combined with the objective of realistic dietary patterns that deviate minimally from the prevailing diet. We draw lessons from stepwise implementation of the method and discuss its strengths, limitations, and perspectives. In light of the modeled HEPs, we discuss the importance of food grouping; of accounting for dietary habits while not precluding modeled diets that can be realistic/acceptable; and of taking into account the exposure to food contaminants. We discuss the tolerance and flexibility to be applied to certain dietary reference values for nutrients and health-based guidance values for contaminants so that HEPs can ultimately be identified, and how account can be taken of varied health-related outcomes applied to food groups. Although the approach involves all the peculiar uncertainties of numerous optimization model parameters and input data, its merit is that it offers a rationalized approach to establishing HEPs with multiple constraints and competing objectives. It is also versatile because it is possible to operationalize further dimensions of dietary patterns to favor human and planetary health.

Aims: Adequate coverage of nutrient requirements is a real health concern and surveillance of the nutritional status of a population is a key element for public policies. This study aimed at providing a reliable nutritional risk assessment of the French population based on prevalences of inadequate and excessive intakes of eleven minerals and trace elements. Methodology: Intakes from foods (dietary supplements excluded) were estimated by combining composition data from the second national Total Diet Study (TDS2/2007-2009) and consumption data from the Individual and National Study on Food Consumption. Results were compared with those from other TDSs. Results: Sodium intakes exceeded World Health Organization (WHO) guidance values, respectively for 74% of adults, and for 76% of children. For calcium and magnesium, the prevalence of inadequate intakes in adults and children ranged from approximately 50 to 70% to

No abstract