Association Between Dietary Live Microbes and Diet Quality Among Children and Adults in France

Consumption of foods containing live microbes has been associated with multiple health benefits. This study assessed exposure to live microbes in foods, including fermented foods, in the nationally representative INCA 3 dietary survey (2014-2015) in France. Foods in the French nutrient composition database (CIQUAL) were assigned to low, medium or high food groups of live microbe content. Dietary intakes came from the last French national dietary survey (INCA3 2014-2015). Participants were stratified by socio-demographic characteristics and by tertiles of medium/high food consumption. Diet quality measures were mean adequacy ratio (MAR, %), mean excess ratio (MER, %) and a score developed by the Programme National Nutrition Santé (sPNNS-GS2). Foods with Medium/High levels of live microbes were consumed by 97.7% of children and 98.4% of adults. Yogurt and cheese (unpasteurised) were the top sources of high food codes (99%). Vegetables and fruit (in particular, raw and unpeeled) were the top sources of medium food codes (75%). The leading fermented foods consumed in France were yogurt and cheese. Consumption of medium/high foods was 166.8 g/day for children and 215.9 g/day for adults. Medium/High foods accounted for < 4.5% of daily energy but provided > 10% of some key nutrients. Consumption of foods containing medium/high levels of live microbes was associated with higher socio-economic status and with higher quality diets. This was the first analysis of exposure to dietary live microbes in France by population strata.