Consumption and nutritional quality of grilled pork purchased from open road-side restaurants of Benin

[Display omitted] •Grilled pork is a good source of protein and lipid.•Grilled pork consumption in Benin ranged between 0.7 g/day and 342.9 g/day.•Linoleic acid was the most abundant omega 6-PUFA in grilled pork in South Benin.•Stearidonic and DHA acids were the predominant omega 3-PUFA.•Daily protein intake through grilled pork is about 25 % of adult requirements in South Benin. This study focused on the determination of consumption habits and nutritional composition of ready-to-eat grilled pork from Benin. A face-to-face survey of 372 grilled pork consumers using a semi-structured questionnaire was carried out in the same municipalities where 24 samples of grilled pork were collected for physico-chemical characterisation. Three hundred out of 372 (80.6 %) consumers eating grilled pork at least once per month were selected to estimate the daily intake of protein, lipid and fatty acids. Grilled pork consumption ranged between 0.7 g/day and 342.9 g/day with a median of 28.6 g/day. Protein and lipid contents ranged between 19.5 % and 69.5 % of dry weight and between 27.9 % and 82.1 % of dry weight, respectively. Fatty acid profile showed that linoleic acid was the most abundant omega 6-PUFA (Polyunsaturated fatty acid). The consumption of high quantity of grilled pork (342.9 g/day) enables to cover 25 % (for women) and 31 % (for men) of adult requirement of PUFA (11−22 g/day for women and 14−28 g/day for men). The omega 6 daily intake from high grilled pork consumption contributed to satisfy about 15 % of adult requirement of omega 6 fatty acids for both genders while the omega 3 daily intake from high grilled pork consumption was over 80 % for both genders.