Information Note – Comparing food and drink consumption data from Canada and the United States (2024)

Pest Management Regulatory Agency
19 April 2024

(PDF Version - 287 KB)

Introduction
Consumption data and how it is used in dietary exposure and risk assessments for pesticides
The consumption data available
United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS)
Comparison of NHANES and the CCHS
Reasons why NHANES data are used in dietary risk assessments for pesticides
List of acronyms

Introduction

This information note provides details and reasoning on the data used by Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) in its dietary risk assessments of pesticides. It compares food and drink intake data, also called consumption data, from the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), and explains why Health Canada's PMRA uses NHANES data.

This document is intended for the public, specifically engaged audiences who want detailed information on the data used in dietary risk assessments for pesticides.

There is a list of acronyms and definitions at the end of this document.

Consumption data and how it is used in dietary exposure and risk assessments for pesticides

Consumption data are the type and amount of food and drink people consume daily or over a long period of time. Consumption data are used to determine health measurements such as nutrient intake or pesticide exposure from the diet.

Pesticide residue concentration is the amount of pesticide found in or on food and drinks after using pesticides. To estimate pesticide residue concentration in food and drinks, Health Canada's PMRA uses supervised field trial data, residue studies for livestock, or food monitoring data. Many factors can impact pesticide residue concentrations such as the type of food crops treated (for example, different crop physiology), the application rate and the timing of pesticide application.

Dietary exposure to a pesticide is the amount of a pesticide ingested through food and drinks. Dietary exposure is estimated by multiplying the daily consumption amount by the pesticide residue concentration in the consumed food and drink. The same consumption data are used to estimate dietary exposure for many different pesticides, while pesticide residue concentrations are specific to each pesticide.

For more details:

Science Policy Note: Assessing Exposure from Pesticides in Food - A User's Guide

The consumption data available

There are two main consumption datasets for North America:

United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)

NHANES is a survey designed to assess the health and nutrition of adults and children in the United States. The 2005 to 2010 NHANES survey included 24,763 people from across the United States and oversampled for vulnerable population groups such as the elderly and people of low income. The survey combines information from interviews and physical examinations. The interviews include demographic, socioeconomic, dietary, and health-related questions. The physical examinations consist of medical, dental, and physiological measurements, as well as laboratory tests by trained medical personnel. The National Center for Health Statistics, a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, runs this survey program to produce vital and health statistics for the United States.

The dietary component of the NHANES is titled What We Eat in America (WWEIA). It is conducted in partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). It consists of two days of 24-hour dietary recall information. There is an initial in-person interview, then a second interview conducted over the telephone within three to 10 days.

The WWEIA collects consumption data "as eaten". For example, survey participants note how much pizza they've eaten, instead of how much of each pizza ingredient they've eaten (for example, tomatoes, flour, milk). The individual ingredients that make up "as eaten" food and drinks are called raw agricultural commodities (RACs). This distinction is important because pesticide residue concentrations are based on RACs, so to accurately estimate dietary exposure for a pesticide, any "as eaten" consumption data must be converted to RACs.

To do this, Health Canada's PMRA uses a software program called Dietary Exposure Evaluation Model – Food Commodity Intake Database™ (DEEM-FCID™, Version 4.02, 05-10-c). The DEEM-FCIDTM program incorporates and converts "as eaten" consumption data from NHANES/WWEIA for the years 2005 to 2010. The program is maintained by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and is available for free online. More recent NHANES consumption data are available (up to March 2020), which will replace the current version once converted to RACs.

To convert "as eaten" consumption data, the DEEM-FCIDTM program uses the FCID recipe list. For example, the program converts a 100 gram slice of pepperoni pizza reported in WWEIA to:

30 grams of wheat flour
23 grams of tomato and tomato puree
18 grams of milk (reflecting the cheese)
10 grams of water
6 grams of beef
6 grams of pork
3 grams of soybean oil
2 grams of bulb onion, and
other minor ingredients (<1 gram).

The 2005-2010 WWEIA consumption data and the FCID recipe list are available online. The website was developed by the University of Maryland in collaboration with the USEPA Office of Pesticide Programs.

To estimate dietary exposure for a pesticide, the DEEM-FCIDTM program multiplies the consumption amount of a RAC, such as wheat flour, with the pesticide residue concentration for this RAC.

For more details:

Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS)

The CCHS is a series of surveys designed to provide timely health information about people in Canada at the national, provincial, and intra-provincial levels. The surveys are conducted by Statistics Canada in partnership with Health Canada. The CCHS program started in the year 2000 and the most recent consumption data were collected in 2015. The surveys collect information related to health status, use of healthcare, and health determinants for people in Canada. The first CCHS survey that focused on nutrition was in 2004, and is called Cycle 2.2. The second nutrition-focused survey was in 2015 and is called CCHS-Nutrition.

CCHS-Nutrition (2015) provides detailed information on food consumption using a 24-hour dietary recall from participants (of 20 487 individuals), as well as nutrient supplement intake, physical measurements, household food insecurity, and other topics that support the interpretation of the 24-hour recall. Some of the participants (of 7623 individuals) repeated the survey three to 10 days later. The initial dietary recall interview was conducted in person and the follow-up interview was conducted over the telephone. The primary focus of the survey is to determine nutrient intake levels for Canadians.

Like NHANES, the CCHS collects consumption data for "as eaten" food items like bread and pizza. The CCHS can determine the nutrient levels for "as eaten" food items based on information from the Canadian Nutrient File (CNF). A few of these "as eaten" food items such as cookies and cakes do not have CNF nutritional information and are further converted to RACs. USDA developed recipes are used to convert the items.

The design summary for both surveys is in Table 1.

For more details:

2015 Canadian Community Health Survey - Nutrition - Food and Nutrition Surveillance - Health Canada - Canada.ca
The Canadian Nutrient File – Health Canada – Canada.ca

Comparison of NHANES and the CCHS

Design: Both NHANES and the CCHS are designed to be statistically rigorous and representative of consumption levels at the national scale. Table 1 below summarizes the key design aspects and differences for the two surveys.

Table 1 - NHANES and CCHS Design Summary
Category	NHANES-WWEIA 2005-2010	CCHS-Nutrition 2015
Country	United States	Canada
Locations surveyed	50 States	10 Provinces
Survey frequency	Conducted yearly	Conducted on a periodic basis (2004 and 2015)
Total people surveyed	24,673	20,487
Survey duration	2 non-consecutive days	1 day
Total survey days	49,346	20,487
Age range	All ages	All ages except <1 year olds
Survey method	AMPM^{Footnote 1}	AMPM^{Footnote 1}
Physical attributes measured	Yes	Yes
Foods reported	As eaten^{Footnote 2}	As eaten^{Footnote 2}
Footnote 1 AMPM = Automated Multiple-Pass Method. The method was developed by the USDA and is an automated questionnaire that guides the interviewer through a system designed to maximize respondents' opportunities for remembering and reporting foods eaten in the previous 24 hours. The method was modified for the CCHS to reflect Canadian needs. Return to footnote 1 referrer Footnote 2 Foods "as eaten" are converted to RACs via the FCID recipe list. See description of RAC in section titled "The consumption data available". The majority of NHANES consumption data is converted to RACs, but only a few CCHS food items (for example, cookies and cakes) are converted to RACs using a recipe. Return to footnote 2 referrer

Consumption levels: The total consumption levels for NHANES-WWEIA 2005-2010 and CCHS-Nutrition 2015 are similar. The average food consumption level for NHANES is 2% higher as compared to the CCHS, while drinking water consumption is 7% higher. This information is shown in Figure 1.

When foods are categorized into major groups, NHANES and the CCHS indicate similar consumption levels (less than 10% difference) for grains, vegetable and legume, fruit and fruit juice, and animal commodities other than dairy. There were differences for dairy commodities, with NHANES indicating 11% higher dairy consumption. Using higher consumption values is more protective from a dietary exposure perspective. This information is shown in Figure 2.

This analysis focuses on foods that are most relevant to dietary exposure and risk assessments for pesticides. Miscellaneous foods such as soda drinks and confectionary items were not included in the analysis.

Information Note – Comparing food and drink consumption data from Canada and the United States (1)

Information Note – Comparing food and drink consumption data from Canada and the United States (2)

Reasons why NHANES data are used in dietary risk assessments for pesticides

Health Canada PMRA scientists have selected NHANES data for use in dietary risk assessments for pesticides after considering several factors. Scientists previously detailed these factors in a Science Policy Note SPN2014-01, General Exposure Factor Inputs for Dietary, Occupational, and Residential Exposure Assessments. Since the publication of the Science Policy Note in 2014, more recent iterations of NHANES and CCHS consumption data have been generated so Health Canada scientists conducted an updated analysis.

For more details:

Science Policy Note SPN2014-01, General Exposure Factor Inputs for Dietary, Occupational, and Residential Exposure Assessments - Canada.ca

The following is a summary of those factors:

Quality and accessibility: Both the NHANES and the CCHS are high quality databases that are accessible to the public. NHANES collected data for approximately 50,000 days (25,000 people surveyed over 2 days) while the CCHS collected 20,000 days of survey data. NHANES collected more survey data which provides more accuracy with a larger dataset.
Relevance for people in Canada: The CCHS surveys people in Canada. NHANES surveys people in the United States. As shown in Figure 1 and 2, the consumption amount of food and drinking water were similar, so the data from both surveys are applicable to people in Canada (and the United States).
Conversion of foods "as eaten" to the raw agricultural commodity: Both NHANES and the CCHS collect consumption data "as eaten" foods, but only NHANES data converts to raw agricultural commodities (RACs) within the DEEM-FCID program (using the FCID recipe list). This is very important because both the consumption data and pesticide residue concentration must be based on RACs to accurately estimate dietary exposure for a pesticide, so using NHANES data is more appropriate.
Inclusion of vulnerable population groups such as infants: Both NHANES and the CCHS collect data from populations for varying ages, sex, regions and ethnic origin. But NHANES has the added advantage of also collecting data for infants less than 1 year of age. This is often the most sensitive age group for identifying dietary risks for pesticides. The CCHS does not collect data for this age group.
Time frame: The 2015 CCHS consumption data is more recent than the NHANES 2005-2010 data. However, the NHANES data provides greater confidence because it has more data points: it covers multiple years and captures consumption patterns over a longer period of time. More recent NHANES consumption data are available (up to March 2020). This will replace the current version once converted to RACs and Health Canada has determined that it continues to meet the requirements for dietary exposure and risk assessments for pesticides.
Regulatory alignment: The USEPA uses the NHANES data, leading to greater alignment in risk assessments for the North American population and harmonization of regulatory decisions where appropriate.

The PMRA has kept up with revisions to both NHANES and CCHS consumption data and will continue to make sure that the data used in dietary exposure and risk assessments for pesticides are appropriate and protective of people in Canada.

List of acronyms

AMPM: Automated Multiple-Pass Method
CCHS: Canadian Community Health Survey
DEEM: Dietary Exposure Evaluation Model
FCID: Food Consumption Intake Database
NHANES: National Health Examination Survey
PMRA: Pest Management Regulatory Agency
RAC: Raw Agricultural Commodity
SPN: Science Policy Note
USEPA: United States Environmental Protection Agency
USDA: United States Department of Agriculture
WWEIA: What We Eat in America

Information Note – Comparing food and drink consumption data from Canada and the United States (2024)

Table of Contents

Introduction

Consumption data and how it is used in dietary exposure and risk assessments for pesticides

The consumption data available

United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)

Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS)

Comparison of NHANES and the CCHS

Reasons why NHANES data are used in dietary risk assessments for pesticides

List of acronyms