Guarantor: N Slimani. Contributors: NS was the overall coordinator of the ENDB project and in charge of the preparation of the paper in collaboration with the other co-authors. GD, JV, GS, SS, MP, IU, DATS, NS were members of the 'task force group' involving specific managerial or technical tasks for the project and/or the preparation of reference ENDB guidelines. IU was also in charge of the development of the DBMS in collaboration with the coordinating centre. SS, MP, PG, AM, JI, WB, AF, SW, EV, JU, SC and AB were involved as the national compilers in charge of documenting, compiling and evaluating the subset of their national nutrient databases used in the ENDB project. AM, JI, WB and IU were also involved as members of the 'ENDB expert group' headed by DATS, in charge of revising the reference ENDB guidelines. MN, MCB-R, CS, AT, SN, IM, JR, HB, MO, PHMP, PJ, PA, DE, EL, MS de M, AT, KG, CS, SR, AW, SB were involved as local EPIC collaborators in the supervision and preparation of EPIC-specific databases relevant to the ENDB project (e.g. recipe files). CC and MvB, at the coordinating centre, were involved in tasks relevant to these EPIC databases. AFS has provided long-standing scientific collaboration and support for setting up the ENDB. ER is the overall coordinator of the EPIC study. All co-authors provided comments and suggestions on the manuscript. Objective: This paper describes the ad hoc methodological concepts and procedures developed to improve the comparability of Nutrient databases (NDBs) across the 10 European countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). This was required because there is currently no European reference NDB available. Design: A large network involving national compilers, nutritionists and experts on food chemistry and computer science was set up for the 'EPIC Nutrient DataBase' (ENDB) project. A total of 550-1500 foods derived from about 37 000 standardized EPIC 24-h dietary recalls (24-HDRS) were matched as closely as possible to foods available in the 10 national NDBs. The resulting national data sets (NDS) were then successively documented, standardized and evaluated according to common guidelines and using a DataBase Management System specifically designed for this project. The nutrient values of foods unavailable or not readily available in NDSs were approximated by recipe calculation, weighted averaging or adjustment for weight changes and vitamin/mineral losses, using common algorithms. Results: The final ENDB contains about 550-1500 foods depending on the country and 26 common components. Each component value was documented and standardized for unit, mode of expression, definition and chemical method of analysis, as far as possible. Furthermore, the overall completeness of NDSs was improved (X99%), particularly for b-carotene and vitamin E. Conclusion: The ENDB constitutes a first real attempt to improve the comparability of NDBs across European countries. This methodological work will provide a useful tool for nutri...

Guarantor: E Riboli. Contributors: ER is overall coordinator of the EPIC study, which he designed and implemented in collaboration with his team at IARC and the principal investigators in the collaborating centres. NS developed the 24-h recall system and the food consumption database in collaboration with the EPIC centres. WA, NS, PF and ER constituted the writing group in charge of conducting statistical data analyses and preparing the manuscript. ALvK and JPS were in charge of laboratory analyses of carotenoids in plasma samples. The other authors supervised the collection and analysis of dietary data and the collection of blood samples in the participating study centres, and provided comments and suggestions on the final manuscript. Objective: The aim in this study was to assess the association between individual plasma carotenoid levels (a-carotene, b-carotene, lycopene, b-cryptoxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin) and fruit and vegetable intakes recorded by a calibrated food questionnaire (FQ) and 24-h dietary recall records (24HDR) in nine different European countries with diverse populations and widely varying intakes of plant foods. Design: A stratified random subsample of 3089 men and women from nine countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), who had provided blood samples and dietary and other lifestyle information between 1992 and 2000, were included. Results: b-Cryptoxanthin was most strongly correlated with total fruits (FQ r ¼ 0.52, 24HDR r ¼ 0.39), lycopene with tomato and tomato products (FQ r ¼ 0.38, 24HDR r ¼ 0.25), and a-carotene with intake of root vegetables (r ¼ 0.39) and of total carrots (r ¼ 0.38) for FQ only. Based on diet measured by FQ and adjusting for possible confounding by body mass index (BMI), age, gender, smoking status, alcohol intake, and energy intake, the strongest predictors of individual plasma carotenoid levels were fruits (R partial 2 ¼ 17.2%) for b-cryptoxanthin, total carrots (R partial 2 ¼ 13.4%) and root vegetables (R partial 2 ¼ 13.3%) for a-carotene, and tomato products (R partial 2 ¼ 13.8%) for lycopene. For 24HDR, the highest R partial 2 was for fruits in relation to b-cryptoxanthin (7.9%). Conclusions: Intakes of specific fruits and vegetables as measured by food questionnaires are good predictors of certain individual plasma carotenoid levels in our multicentre European study. At individual subject levels, FQ measurements of fruits, root vegetables and carrots, and tomato products are, respectively, good predictors of b-cryptoxanthin, a-carotene, and lycopene in plasma.