Intake assessment of thyme and thyme products in Lebanon using a food frequency questionnaire

Abstract

Thyme intake assessment is gaining significance because thyme is becoming a global staple food and its use has been on the rise. Limited research has been done on the assessment of dietary patterns on thyme and thyme products in Lebanon. The aim of this study was conducted for this purpose, a developed FFQ was carried on a convenient sample of 1555 adult participants. Out of the total, 1523 persons (97.9%) consumed at least one thyme product. The mean consumption of thyme products was estimated to be 425.5 g/day, providing an estimated 31.4 g/day of thyme. Thyme pie had the highest mean intake (72.5 g/day) and represented the highest thyme contribution (10.4g/day) among all thyme products while crackers with thyme had the lowest mean intake (3.7 g/day) and the lowest thyme contribution (0.2 g/day). The mean consumption values for thyme products were significantly different between participants of different genders, age categories, socio-economic and demographic levels (p<0.05). This study highlighted the importance of a food frequency questionnaire as a tool for data collection about the consumption patterns taking into account the consumed portion size of a specific thyme product as well as the frequency of consumption, without neglecting the added quantity of thyme has to be more directed, leave a message when you finish reading.