Ten independent U.S. and Canadian studies published from 1958 to 1987 have shown that dietary fluoride intakes by adults range from 1.4 to 3.4 mg/day in areas where the water fluoride concentration was 1.0 mg/liter. In areas where the water concentration was less than 0.3 mg/liter, the daily intakes ranged from 0.3 to 1.0 mg/day (Cholak, 1959; Dabeka et al., 1987; Filippo and Battistone, 1971; Kramer et al., 1974; McClure and Zipkin, 1958; Osis et al., 1974; Singer et al., 1980, 1985; Spenser et al., 1981; Taves, 1983). With the exception of the study by Taves (1983), each of these studies included fluoride intake from water. On a body weight basis, therefore, dietary fluoride intake by adults is generally lower than it was during the growth period. There was no evidence that dietary fluoride intake in the 1970s and 1980s had increased over that in the 1950s.

Most foods have fluoride concentrations well below 0.05 mg/100 g (Taves, 1983). Exceptions to this include fluoridated water, beverages and some infant formulas that are made or reconstituted with