The relationship between cigarette smoking, vodka drinking and consumption of 44 food items typical of the Polish diet were analysed in a case-control study in Cracow, Poland, among 127 cases of breast cancer and 250 controls randomly selected from the general population. Cigarette smoking was not significantly influencing the breast cancer risk. Compared with never-drinkers, the habit of vodka drinking 20 years earlier significantly increased breast cancer risk in women below 50 years of age (multivariate OR was 4.4 with 95% CI 1.6-12.4). Frequent consumption of boiled vegetables 20 years earlier (greater than 3 times per week) was associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer in women aged 50 years and more (multivariate OR was 0.4 with 95% CI 0.2-0.8).