Guidelines for use of dietary intake data.

This article presents the guidelines from the report of the ad hoc Expert Panel on Guidelines for Use of Dietary Intake Data. The report was prepared under terms of a contract with the Life Sciences Research Office of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology to provide the Food and Drug Administration with a working reference for evaluating dietary intake data. The guidelines represent the Expert Panel's conclusions on appropriate ways to interpret dietary data relating to (a) prevalence of consumption of particular levels of foods or food components, (b) comparisons of intake of different groups within the U.S. population, (c) time trends in consumption of foods or food components, and (d) relationships of intake of a food or food component to a given health outcome. The guidelines address general issues concerning dietary data collection and statistical concerns as well as specific issues important in interpretation of dietary data.