Table 4.

Qualitative evaluation of the influence of uncertainties on the dietary exposure estimate

Sources of uncertainties	Direction of impact
Model input data
Consumption data: different methodologies/representativeness/underreporting/ misreporting/no portion size standard	+/–
Use of data from food consumption surveys of a few days to estimate long‐term (chronic) exposure for high percentiles (95th percentile)	+
Possible national differences in categorisation and classification of food	+/−
Model assumptions and factors
FoodEx categories included in the exposure assessment were assumed to always contain the food enzyme–TOS	+
Exposure to food enzyme–TOS was always calculated based on the recommended maximum use level	+
Selection of broad FoodEx categories for the exposure assessment	+
Use of recipe fractions in disaggregation FoodEx categories	+/−
Use of technical factors in the exposure model	+/−

FoodEx: a standardised food classification and description system; TOS: total organic solids.

+: uncertainty with potential to cause overestimation of exposure; –: uncertainty with potential to cause underestimation of exposure.