In 1957-1960 a diet assessment was undertaken for a sample of the Framingham Study cohort on their fifth biennial examination. The method used was a modification of the dietary interview developed by B.S. Burke and was directed to evaluating the "usual" long-term intake of each person interviewed. A sample of 1049 persons was drawn according to an elaborate sampling scheme. A 25 percent random sample was drawn from a listing of the original sample respondents. This sample was then modified as follows: (a) one half of the women sampled were removed; (b) all persons who were known dead were removed (25 men, 7 women); (c) all persons who had missed the last two consecutive examinations were removed (50 men, 25 women); (d) all persons with the diagnosis of heart disease or definite hypertension were removed (Table 1). (Persons who were diagnosed as having these conditions subsequent to the sampling but prior to the interview were, however, retained). The diagnoses comprised any form of definite heart disease, including myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, and rheumatic heart disease. A total of 173 persons, 124 men and 49 women, were removed for these reasons. However, these were the only medical exclusions and others persons with known disease, some of them involving dietary therapy, are included in the dietary sample.