Objective: A diet rich in phyto-oestrogens has been suggested to protect against a variety of common diseases but UK intake data on phyto-oestrogens or their food sources are sparse. The present study estimates the average intakes of isoflavones, lignans, enterolignans and coumestrol from 7 d food diaries and provides data on total isoflavone, lignan and phyto-oestrogen consumption by food group. Design: Development of a food composition database for twelve phyto-oestrogens and analysis of soya food and phyto-oestrogen consumption in a populationbased study. Setting: Men and women, aged 40-79 years, from the general population participating in the Norfolk arm of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-Norfolk) between 1993 and 1997, with nutrient and food data from 7 d food diaries. Subjects: A subset of 20 437 participants. Results: The median daily phyto-oestrogen intake for all men was 1199 mg (interquartile range 934-1537 mg; mean 1504 mg, SD 1502 mg) and 888 mg for all women (interquartile range 710-1135 mg; mean 1205 mg, SD 1701 mg). In soya consumers, median daily intakes were higher: 2861 mg in men (interquartile range 1304-7269 mg; mean 5051 mg, SD 5031 mg) and 3142 mg in women (interquartile range 1089-7327 mg; mean 5396 mg, SD 6092 mg). In both men and women, bread made the greatest contribution to phyto-oestrogen intake -40?8 % and 35?6 %, respectively. In soya consumers, vegetable dishes and soya/goat's/ sheep's milks were the main contributors -45?7 % and 21?3 % in men and 38?4 % and 33?7 % in women, respectively. Conclusions: The ability to estimate phyto-oestrogen intake in Western populations more accurately will aid investigations into their suggested effects on health.