his article gives an overview of the potential hazards of polyphenol consumption, as reported during the round-table discussion at the 1st International Conference on Polyphenols and Health, held in Vichy, France, November 2003. Adverse effects of polyphenols have been evaluated primarily in experimental studies.
Phenolic compounds, ubiquitous in plants are an essential part of the human diet, and are of considerable interest due to their antioxidant properties. These compounds posses an aromatic ring bearing one or more hydroxyl groups and their structures may range from that of a simple phenolic molecule to that of a complex high-molecular weight polymer.