FSA nutrition survey may include genetic profiling
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People's DNA data should be collected alongside other consumer information as part of the planned national diet and nutrition survey (NDNS) being set up by the Food Standards Agency, its management board has urged.
"If we can do some form of genotyping it might really help to give us a clue to improve the health of the nation," said board member Chris Pomfret, a former senior executive with Unilever.
However, the authority needed ethical consent for collecting genetic data from participants, cautioned Mark Bush of the FSA's nutrition division at the board's December meeting.
The rolling NDNS, which will be partly funded by the Department of Health and covers 1,000 people a year, will be the primary method for monitoring progress towards nutrition targets set out in the FSA's strategic plan for 2005 to 2010. The targets cover salt and saturated fat intakes among other key nutrients.
The six-and-half-year, £15.5M survey will be carried out by a consortium led by the National Centre for Social Research. A pilot project is planned for this spring, with fieldwork for the main survey scheduled to start in April 2008. Results are expected from the end of 2009.
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