Issue 14, 2025

PhenolQuest: a new reference FFQ for a more precise and comparable assessment of (poly)phenol intake in Europe

Abstract

(Poly)phenols represent a large class of bioactive compounds present in our diet. An increasing number of epidemiological, clinical and pre-clinical studies are demonstrating the beneficial effects of (poly)phenols on various health parameters, parlicularly in relation to the prevention of cardiometabolic diseases. However, fully understanding their potential in preventive nutrition requires significant improvements in the assessment of individuals’ exposure to a variety of (poly)phenols. One of the current limitations is the use of standard Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQs) that are not specifically designed for that purpose and as a consequence lack precision and accuracy for the assessment of (poly)phenol intake. We developed the FFQ PhenolQuest, specially designed to assess with a high level of details the dietary intake of 120 (poly)phenols belonging to all main families, in populations following a European-style diet. It includes 188 foods with a number of additional variations (n = 75). Special effort was made to optimize the questionnaire's design and usability. In particular, the consumption frequency options were expanded compared to the standard FFQ and tailored to the different food groups. An application test conducted on a French population panel of 110 subjects demonstrated PhenolQuest's ability to capture the diversity of (poly)phenol source consumption patterns. PhenolQuest is shared in integrality for free use and further validation by the community. This article presents the challenges and strategies used for its development, as well as its scope of use.

Graphical abstract: PhenolQuest: a new reference FFQ for a more precise and comparable assessment of (poly)phenol intake in Europe

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 Dec 2024
Accepted
14 May 2025
First published
06 Jun 2025
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Food Funct., 2025,16, 5791-5808

PhenolQuest: a new reference FFQ for a more precise and comparable assessment of (poly)phenol intake in Europe

D. Teissandier, C. Gillet, S. Chaumont, S. Mercier, M. Lefebvre, W. Lasri, A. Djama Guedi, M. Taillandier, N. Hanet, L. Jimenez, L. Demaretz, C. Morand and C. Manach, Food Funct., 2025, 16, 5791 DOI: 10.1039/D4FO06326K

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements