International conference on dietary factors: cancer causes and prevention, Vienna, 14-17 February 2001.

Until recently, phytoprotectants were considered almost exclusively with regard to their toxicological potency. In table 4 of Principles and Methods of Ž . Toxicology Hayes, 1994 , entitled ‘Certain carcinogens and mutagens in the diet’, the following compounds are listed, in addition to mycotoxins, alcohol and cooked food carcinogens: allylisothiocyanate, caffeine and theobromine, flavonoids, d-limonene and polyphenols. These are phytoprotectants, the anticarcinogenic actions of which are increasingly coming under discussion. The problems in determining the risk of cancer that is connected with diet were illustrated in 1981 by Doll and Peto. Using all available epidemiological data it was shown to be in the range of 10 70%. The impact of this paradigm on health was discussed at the Vienna Conference under an impressing international audience. The culinary uses of protective compounds in the diet were applied by the Austrian master cook, Reinhold Gerer, in a truly masterly and delicate benefit dinner in favour of the Institute of Cancer Research, University of Vienna. In this way it was demonstrated convincingly how good healthy food can taste. The director of the Institute of Cancer Research, Professor Dr SchulteHermann and all participants of the meeting finally congratulated Professor Dr Knasmuller and his cö workers for the excellent organization and quality of the conference. An attempt will now be made to summarize and comment on selected contributions to the meeting.