Consumption data can be expressed in different ways although it should be comparable to what is known about the toxicological property of the chemical in question and the likely pattern of consumer exposure. For example if the chemical has an acute toxic effect the consumption data should ideally be based on a single eating occasion or consumption over a single day and be based on the population of concern. This paper describes five UK dietary surveys and consumption data, specifically relevant to acute exposure assessment, from adult and pre-schoolchildren surveys. The acute consumption data are taken from the first day of the dietary regime. Closer examination of the dietary survey information suggests that either picking a random survey day or selecting all consuming days give 97.5 percentile values which are not significantly different. Consumption data are given for whole commodities and a few fruit juices. Examination of the dietary survey information shows that the consumption patterns are very different between whole commodities (e.g. apples), ingredients (e.g. apple in a dish or recipe) and juices and between adults and young children.