OBJECTIVES: To screen food-related products and support allegation demands, evaluating food-related concepts with appropriate tools is essential. In the absence of such a tool, we developed a specific questionnaire providing insight into the way a person links food to well-being in terms of pleasure, joint comfort, digestive comfort, prevention and immunity. METHODS: Semi-directive interviews were conducted with 40 healthy subjects to explore three themes: food, well-being and food-related well-being, and determine the basis of the interview guide for focus group discussions. Twenty-four group discussions (199 subjects in total) were conducted with healthy subjects (n=12) and subjects with joint, digestive or repetitive infection complaints (n=4 per complaint), to investigate definition and experience of food-related well-being. Qualitative analysis was performed to identify concepts of interest. Based on the designed conceptual model and discussion with the scientific committee, items were generated using subjects’ verbatim expression. Face-to-face cognitive interviews were conducted with 29 healthy subjects to ensure comprehension and appropriateness of the resulting test questionnaire. After revision, the pilot questionnaire was created. RESULTS: Concepts elicited during group discussions revolved around pleasure and health. The test questionnaire consisted of 199 items divided into six modules: “grocery shopping”, “cooking”, “places where meals are eaten”, “conviviality”, “eating and drinking”, and “eating habits and health”. Items within the first five modules assess subject behaviour and benefits (pleasure, psychology, digestion, physical condition); the module “eating habits and health” assesses beliefs. Cognitive interviews led to minor rewordings, removal and addition of items. The resulting pilot questionnaire consisted of 174 items distributed across the 6 aforementioned modules. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a unique tool that comprehensively assesses the full picture of well-being related to food and eating habits in the general population. A validation study is underway to establish the scoring and ascertain the psychometrics of the instrument before it can be used in clinical studies.