Advancing national dietary intake data and chemical and nutritional risk assessment in Luxembourg

LIH-led pilot project “LuxFoods” kicks off

• Department of Precision Health
• NutriHealth

Launched in April 2026, “LuxFoods” is a three-year pilot project aimed at developing and testing a standardised methodology for conducting a national dietary intake survey among adults in Luxembourg, in compliance with the EFSA-recommended methodology. Led by the NutriHealth and the Public Health Expertise groups at the LIH Department of Precision Health (DoPH), the project is funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Viticulture of Luxembourg and supported by the Luxembourg Veterinary and Food Administration (ALVA), in collaboration with the Belgian partner Sciensano and the University of Cambridge.

Reliable and robust information on food consumption is essential for understanding dietary patterns, assessing nutritional risks, and supporting evidence-based public health and food safety policies. “However, Luxembourg currently lacks harmonised and representative national data on food consumption. The LuxFoods project aims to address this gap by developing and testing a methodology for collecting dietary intake data that is aligned with the standards of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)”, explains Dr. Farhad Vahid, scientist within the NutriHealth group.

As part of this pilot study, researchers will evaluate the feasibility of collecting detailed dietary information from adults living in Luxembourg using the EFSA-recommended methodology. Participants will complete multiple 24-hour dietary recalls together with a food propensity questionnaire (FPQ), enabling the assessment of representative habitual dietary patterns.

A key component of the project is adapting the digital dietary assessment platform Intake24 to Luxembourg’s multilingual and multicultural context. Developed by researchers at the University of Newcastle and currently hosted by the University of Cambridge, the tool allows a detailed assessment of foods and drinks consumed over previous days, and will be tailored to the Luxembourg context to include local foods and recipes, considering local and multi-cultural dietary habits, helping ensure that dietary reporting is both accurate and accessible for participants. A separate tool will be tested to capture rarely consumed food.

Beyond dietary intake data, the pilot is also foreseen to include the collection of anthropometric measurements, such as height, weight, and blood pressure, as well as blood and urine sample collection, providing complementary insights into participants’ nutritional and health status. The study will further assess recruitment strategies, participant engagement, and the overall quality and usability of the collected data. By testing both the methodological framework and the operational aspects of dietary data collection, LuxFoods will generate practical insights and recommendations to inform the design of the future nationwide representative dietary intake survey in Luxembourg.

Ultimately, the project will support the development of a robust evidence base to guide nutrition research, food safety assessments, and public health policy in the country

concludes Dr. Torsten Bohn, leader of the NutriHealth group.