Pros and cons
Pros
- Respondent burden is relatively low
- Procedure does not alter food intake patterns
- Literacy not required
- Interview relatively quick (e.g. 20-30 minutes)
- Web based applications vastly reduce administration cost but more research is required to ascertain accuracy and reliability
Cons
- Single 24 hour recall not representative of habitual intake but may be useful for group means
- Method dependent on respondent’s ability to recall intake accurately
- Possibility of recall bias where the individual may selectively recall food items, as with all self-report methods
- Expensive to administer due to high interviewer burden but telephone 24-hour recalls can reduce cost
- Repeat 24-hour recalls increase time and cost of analysis