Total diet studies are the best tool to evaluate food exposure to xenobiotics. These studies are based on xenobiotic concentrations measured in foods that are related to food consumption data in order to obtain reliable assessment of xenobiotic food intakes. This work is a review of the main international literature and points out international, European and Italian data of xenobiotic food ingestion. In particular, it focuses on metals, trace elements, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and some mycotoxin intakes in the total diet. Recorded data show that xenobiotic ingestion differs from nation to nation in relation to environmental pollution and contamination, geographical and climatic conditions, food habits and consumption. Therefore, in order to define reference values for xenobiotic food exposure, it is necessary to set up a monitoring and risk surveillance program by collecting data in a permanent and systematic way. Nevertheless, we have hypothesized some xenobiotic reference values for the area of Pavia based on local studies.