National food consumption survey | Data access procedure

The data of the Belgian National Food Consumption Survey 2014-2015 are subject to the law on the protection of privacy with regard to the processing of personal data of 8 December 1992 (the Privacy Act) and its implementing decree of 13 February 2001. These data can only be made available to third parties after approval of a deliberation by the Social Security and Health Chamber of the Information Security Committee. 

The procedure for obtaining the pseudonymised data is as follows: 

Data can be requested by module. In section 6 of the application for authorisation, it is therefore sufficient to indicate the modules that are required and to justify the relevance of the information in the context of the study. For each module or variable, it should be demonstrated in detail that the information is necessary for the proposed research. A vague or too general justification will not be accepted. In the annex at the end, all variables of the requested modules have to be mentioned as well. The Social Security and Health Chamber will check if the requested variables are proportionate to the objectives of the research.

The application should be submitted to the Information Security Committee by e-mail (ivc@mail.fgov.be).

You can find more information about the deliberations of the Social Security and Health Chamber of the Information Security Committee on the website of the Crossroads Bank for Social Security.

1. First, submit an application for the use of the data to Sciensano using this form.
2. After this, you will receive a draft data transfer agreement in Dutch or French from us between all parties (Sciensano, FPS Public Health and the applicant). Aspects covered by this agreement include the fee, the method of supply, the security measures, the duration of the availability of the data, the reporting of the research results, the intellectual property and the responsibilities of all partners.
3. Submit a request for a new deliberation by the Social Security and Health Chamber of the Information Security Committee using the model form provided for that purpose in Dutch or French. In this form, Sciensano has been pre-filled in a number of aspects relating to the Belgian National Food Consumption Survey 2014-2015 (in blue). This application must also include at least the following annexes:
   1. the project objective pursued in the framework of the agreement between the applicant and Sciensano/FPS Public Health 
   2. the list of variables requested. For this purpose, you can use the 2 manuals of the dataset  ( food consumption + general) of the Belgian National Food Consumption Survey 2014-2015
   3. the information brochure ( Dutch/ French) that was sent to the selected persons and in which it was explicitly mentioned that the data of the Belgian National Food Consumption Survey 2014-2015 can be used by various institutions (including universities and research centres)
   4. a small cell risk analysis; this is necessary to ensure that no re-identification is possible due to the combination of certain data. Such a risk analysis was carried out for the total dataset and would therefore be valid for a subset of the database
   5. the draft agreement for the transfer of the data between Sciensano/FPS Public Health and the applicant.
4. After approval by the Social Security and Health Chamber, you can send a copy of the approved deliberation to Sciensano (by e-mail to fcs@sciensano.be) together with the data transfer agreement with Sciensano/FPS Public Health, electronically signed by the applicant.
5. Sciensano submits the agreement for approval to the FPS Public Health, as they are co-owners of the data.
6. After approval by the FPS Public Health, Sciensano will then send you an original copy of the agreement (signed by all parties) and the invoice.
7. You will receive by e-mail a download link that gives access to a secure website where you can download the requested data. 

Alternatively (in particular for risk exposure assessments) an anonymised dataset can be requested without a procedure via the social security and health chamber of the information security committee.

This dataset contains, besides consumption data of food and supplements (i.e.: 24-hour recalls linked to food composition tables + food frequency questionnaire), only the following personal data:

• age
• sex
• province
• educational level
• pregnancy/breastfeeding
• height
• weight
• abdominal circumference. 

The procedure for obtaining the anonymised data is the same as described above, but without step 3 and using this application form. A separate version of the data transfer agreement in Dutch or French will be used for the data exchange.