Background: The Japanese database of food amino acid composition was revised in 2010 after a 24-year interval. To examine the impact of the 2010 revision compared with that of the 1986 revision, we evaluated the validity and reliability of amino acid intakes assessed using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ).

Methods: A FFQ including 138 food items was compared with 7-day dietary records, completed during each distinct season, to assess validity and administered twice at approximately a 1-year interval, to assess reliability. We calculated amino acid intakes using a database that compensated for missing food items via the substitution method. Subjects were a subsample of two cohorts of the Japan Public Health Center-based prospective study. A total of 102 men and 113 women in Cohort I and 174 men and 176 women in Cohort II provided complete dietary records and the FFQ, of whom 101 men and 108 women of Cohort I and 143 men and 146 women of Cohort II completed the FFQ twice.

Results: In the comparison of the FFQ with dietary records, the medians (ranges) of energy-adjusted correlation coefficients for validity were 0.35 (0.25–0.43) among men and 0.29 (0.19–0.40) among women in Cohort I, and 0.37 (0.21–0.52) and 0.38 (0.24–0.59), respectively, in Cohort II. Values for reliability were 0.47 (0.42–0.52) among men and 0.43 (0.38–0.50) among women in Cohort I, and 0.59 (0.52–0.70) and 0.54 (0.45–0.61), respectively, in Cohort II.

Conclusions: The FFQ used in our prospective cohort study is a suitable tool for estimating amino acid intakes.