FDA Total Diet Study Dataset

About the Dataset

The FDA Total Diet Study (TDS) Dataset provides analysis-ready data on heavy metals, pesticides, radionuclides, and nutrients measured in approximately 280 table-ready U.S. foods. Spanning fiscal years 1991-2022, it combines modern TDSi exports (FY2018-2022) with legacy data (1991-2017) into three unified tables covering elements, pesticides, and radionuclides with detection limits, regulatory benchmarks, and food sample metadata.

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Tables: ELEMENTS, PESTICIDES, RADIONUCLIDES Sources: FDA Total Diet Study (TDSi + legacy archives) Update Frequency: Annual (fiscal year releases) Geography: U.S. (6 sampling regions)

Overview

The FDA Total Diet Study Dataset provides comprehensive access to U.S. food contaminant and nutrient analysis data including:

• ELEMENTS (356,685 rows) - Heavy metals (arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury), essential minerals, and vitamins measured in ~280 foods across 30+ years

• PESTICIDES (82,994 rows) - Organochlorines, organophosphates, pyrethroids, and other pesticide residues with detection limits and analytical methods

• RADIONUCLIDES (26,058 rows) - Cesium-137, Strontium-90, and other radionuclide concentrations in food samples

Metadata Tables

Every Dataplex data product includes these standard metadata tables:

Table	Purpose
FEEDS	Dataset catalog -- available tables, descriptions, update dates
FEEDS_FILES	Batch load history with is_latest flag for data freshness
CHANGELOG	Change log -- data loads, schema changes, corrections
DATA_DICTIONARY	Column descriptions for all tables

Entity Relationship Diagram

Entity relationship diagram showing data tables and metadata linkages

## Data Tables

ELEMENTS

Heavy metals, essential minerals, and vitamins measured in approximately 280 table-ready U.S. foods. Includes both TDSi-era data (FY2018-2022) and legacy data (1991-2017).

Key Features:

• 356,685 rows covering FY1991-2022

• Analytes include arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury, calcium, iron, zinc, and more

• Detection limits (LOD, LOQ, reporting limit) for each measurement

• Food sample metadata with market basket and collection identifiers

• Regional sampling across 6 U.S. regions

Key Columns

Column	Type	Description
food_number	NUMBER	FDA food item number (~280 unique foods)
food_name	VARCHAR	Description of the food item as prepared
analyte_name	VARCHAR	Name of the element or nutrient measured
concentration	NUMBER	Measured concentration in the food sample
unit	VARCHAR	Unit of measurement (e.g., ug/kg, mg/kg)
fiscal_year	NUMBER	FDA fiscal year of analysis
region	VARCHAR	U.S. sampling region
feed_id	VARCHAR	FK to FEEDS table
feeds_files_id	VARCHAR	FK to FEEDS_FILES table
created_at	TIMESTAMP	When the data was loaded
updated_at	TIMESTAMP	When the table was last rebuilt

PESTICIDES

Pesticide residue measurements in approximately 280 table-ready U.S. foods. Covers organochlorines, organophosphates, pyrethroids, carbamates, and other pesticide classes.

Key Features:

• 82,994 rows covering FY1991-2022

• Multiple analytical methods (extraction + determinative)

• Trace flags for below-detection results

• Combined TDSi and legacy data sources

Key Columns

Column	Type	Description
food_number	NUMBER	FDA food item number
food_name	VARCHAR	Description of the food item
analyte_name	VARCHAR	Name of the pesticide measured
concentration	NUMBER	Measured concentration
unit	VARCHAR	Unit of measurement
fiscal_year	NUMBER	FDA fiscal year of analysis
trace_flag	VARCHAR	Indicates below-detection results
feed_id	VARCHAR	FK to FEEDS table
feeds_files_id	VARCHAR	FK to FEEDS_FILES table

RADIONUCLIDES

Radionuclide concentrations in U.S. food samples, primarily Cesium-137 and Strontium-90.

Key Features:

• 26,058 rows covering FY1991-2022

• Key isotopes: Cs-137, Sr-90

• Reporting limits for each measurement

• Regional and temporal trend data

Key Columns

Column	Type	Description
food_number	NUMBER	FDA food item number
food_name	VARCHAR	Description of the food item
analyte_name	VARCHAR	Name of the radionuclide measured
concentration	NUMBER	Measured concentration
unit	VARCHAR	Unit of measurement
fiscal_year	NUMBER	FDA fiscal year of analysis
feed_id	VARCHAR	FK to FEEDS table
feeds_files_id	VARCHAR	FK to FEEDS_FILES table

Use Cases

Baby Food Heavy Metals Compliance

Benchmark baby food products against FDA action levels, EU limits, and state mandates (CA/MD/VA) for arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury.

SELECT food_name, analyte_name, AVG(concentration) AS avg_concentration, unit
FROM DWV.ELEMENTS
WHERE food_name ILIKE '%baby%'
  AND analyte_name IN ('Arsenic', 'Lead', 'Cadmium', 'Mercury')
GROUP BY food_name, analyte_name, unit
ORDER BY food_name, analyte_name;

Contaminant Trend Analysis

Track 30+ years of contaminant levels across food categories to identify emerging risks.

SELECT fiscal_year, analyte_name, AVG(concentration) AS avg_level, COUNT(*) AS samples
FROM DWV.ELEMENTS
WHERE analyte_name = 'Lead'
GROUP BY fiscal_year, analyte_name
ORDER BY fiscal_year;

Data Freshness Check

SELECT source_name, row_count, data_period, is_latest, created_at
FROM DWV.FEEDS_FILES
WHERE is_latest = TRUE;

Data Lineage

Every row in the data tables includes feed_id and feeds_files_id for full data lineage:

-- Join data with batch metadata
SELECT e.food_name, e.analyte_name, e.concentration,
       ff.source_name, ff.row_count, ff.is_latest
FROM DWV.ELEMENTS e
JOIN DWV.FEEDS_FILES ff ON e.feeds_files_id = ff.id
WHERE ff.is_latest = TRUE;

Source Information

Field	Value
Publisher	U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Program	Total Diet Study (TDS)
URL	https://www.fda.gov/food/fda-total-diet-study-tds/fda-total-diet-study-tds-results
Update Cadence	Annual (fiscal year releases)
Geographic Coverage	United States (6 sampling regions)
Time Period	FY1991-2022
Category	Science and Technology