Risk Assessment to Underpin Food Regulatory Decisions An Example of Public Health Nutritional Epidemiology 英文参考文献.docVIP

Nutrients 2011, 3, 164-185; doi:10.3390/nu3010164 OPEN ACCESS nutrients ISSN 2072-6643 /journal/nutrients Review Risk Assessment to Underpin Food Regulatory Decisions: An Example of Public Health Nutritional Epidemiology Janis Baines, Judy Cunningham, Christel Leemhuis, Tracy Hambridge and Dorothy Mackerras * Food Standards Australia New Zealand, PO Box 7186, Canberra BC, ACT 2610, Australia; E-Mails: janis.baines@.au (J.B.); judy.cunningham@.au (J.C.); christel.leemhuis@.au (C.L.); tracy.hambridge@.au (T.H.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: dorothy.mackerras@.au; Tel.: +61-2-6271-2683; Fax: +61-2-6271-2278. Received: 7 December 2010; in revised form: 9 January 2011 / Accepted: 18 January 2011 / Published: 20 January 2011 Abstract: The approach used by food regulation agencies to examine the literature and forecast the impact of possible food regulations has many similar features to the approach used in nutritional epidemiological research. We outline the Risk Analysis Framework described by FAO/WHO, in which there is formal progression from identification of the nutrient or food chemical of interest, through to describing its effect on health and then assessing whether there is a risk to the population based on dietary exposure estimates. We then discuss some important considerations for the dietary modeling component of the Framework, including several methodological issues that also exist in research nutritional epidemiology. Finally, we give several case studies that illustrate how the different methodological components are used together to inform decisions about how to manage the regulatory problem. Keywords: risk analysis; food regulation; fortification; additives 1. Introduction Epidemiology is defined as ―the study of the distribution and determinants of disease frequency in human populations‖ [1]. Kaldor commented on the division between two epidemiological t