title: A new food frequency questionnaire to assess chocolate and cocoa consumption.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cocoa has been highlighted as a food with potential benefits to human health because of its polyphenol content. However, few studies show the contribution of cocoa and chocolate products in polyphenol intake. The aim of this work was to develop a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for evaluating the intake of food products containing cocoa (C-FFQ).
  
  
  METHODS
  A sample of 50 university students was recruited to complete the 90-item questionnaire, a validated questionnaire (called here European Food Safety Authority [EFSA]-Q) as well as a 24-hour dietary recall (24 HDR). Spearman correlation test, Bland-Altman plots, and quintile classification analysis were conducted together with the Wilcoxon test and descriptive statistics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant correlations between the C-FFQ and the EFSA-Q for the most common cocoa/chocolate products were observed (P < 0.05), as well as between data from the C-FFQ and 24 HDR (P < 0.05). However, a number of cocoa/chocolate products frequently consumed by the participants were detected by the C-FFQ and 24 HDR which were not included in the EFSA-Q. According to the C-FFQ, chocolate bars were the main source of cocoa in university students, but dairy products also provided an important amount of cocoa.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The developed C-FFQ questionnaire can be considered as a valid option for assessing the consumption frequency of cocoa/chocolate-derived products, thereby allowing the evaluation of cocoa polyphenol intake in further studies.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Fisiologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde Egas Moniz, Egas Moniz Cooperativa de Ensino Superior, Monte da Caparica, Portugal.
authors.forename: Filipa
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vicente
authors.affiliation: Departament de Fisiologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Recerca en Nutrició i Seguretat Alimentària, Universitat de Barcelona (INSA-UB), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saldaña-Ruíz
authors.affiliation: Departament de Fisiologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Manel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rabanal
authors.affiliation: Departament de Fisiologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Recerca en Nutrició i Seguretat Alimentària, Universitat de Barcelona (INSA-UB), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: María J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Lagunas
authors.affiliation: Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde Egas Moniz, Egas Moniz Cooperativa de Ensino Superior, Monte da Caparica, Portugal.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Departament de Fisiologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Recerca en Nutrició i Seguretat Alimentària, Universitat de Barcelona (INSA-UB), Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: franciscoperez@ub.edu.
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Pérez-Cano
authors.affiliation: Departament de Fisiologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Recerca en Nutrició i Seguretat Alimentària, Universitat de Barcelona (INSA-UB), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Margarida
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Castell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002099:Cacao; D000069956:Chocolate / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015930:Diet Records; D004034:Diet Surveys / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013030:Spain; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Chocolate; Cocoa; Dietary recall; Food frequency questionnaire; University students