Intake of Cantonese salted fish, especially during early life, has been established as a major etiologic factor of NPC development among Chinese dialect groups who consume this food item frequently. However, until recently little is known about the etiology of NPC in intermediate-risk Chinese populations who rarely consume salted fish. We have provided strong evidence that consumption of other types of preserved foods, ranging from salted beans and eggs to different salted vegetables, plays a major role in the elevation of NPC rates in these populations. We established cigarette smoking as a modest risk factor for NPC, but did not confirm formaldehyde, a potent nasal carcinogen in animals, as a human NPC carcinogen in a population with relatively high exposures.