title: Measurement of spices and seasonings in India: opportunities for cancer epidemiology and prevention.
abstract: Bioactive components of many foods added during cooking have potential antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antibacterial and chemopreventive properties. However, epidemiologic studies generally do not collect detailed information on these items, which include spices, chilies, coconuts, garlic, onions, and oils. Since India has some of the highest spice consumption in the world, we developed a computer-based food preparer questionnaire to estimate per capita consumption of 19 spices, chilies, coconuts, garlic, onions, and 13 cooking oils among 3,625 participants in the India Health Study, a multicenter pilot study in three regions of India. We observed notable regional differences in consumption of spices, chilies, coconut, garlic, and onions. In Trivandrum, over 95 percent of the participants consumed 12 different spices, while in New Delhi and Mumbai, 95 percent of participants consumed only four and five spices, respectively. Cooking oil use also varied, as ghee was most common in New Delhi (96.8%) followed by mustard seed oil (78.0%), while in Trivandrum the primary oil was coconut (88.5%) and in Mumbai it was peanut (68.5%). There was some variation in consumption by education, income, and religion. Using a novel method for assessing food items primarly added during cooking, we successfully estimated per capita consumption within an epidemiologic study. Based on basic science research and suggestive ecologic level data on cancer incidence and spice consumption, improving epidemiologic assessment of these potentially chemopreventive food items may enhance our understanding of diet and cancer risk.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Leah M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Ferrucci
authors.forename: Carrie R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Daniel
authors.forename: Kavita
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kapur
authors.forename: Puneet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chadha
authors.forename: Hemali
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shetty
authors.forename: Barry I
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Graubard
authors.forename: Preethi S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: George
authors.forename: Whitney
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Osborne
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yurgalevitch
authors.forename: Niveditha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Devasenapathy
authors.forename: Nilanjan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chatterjee
authors.forename: Dorairaj
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Prabhakaran
authors.forename: Prakash C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Aleyamma
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mathew
authors.forename: Rashmi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sinha
mesh_terms: D003296:Cooking; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011379:Prognosis; D017365:Spices / Q000032:analysis*