The effect of meat and fat in laryngeal carcinogenesis was examined in a case-control study carried out in Uruguay in the time period 1998-1999. One-hundred and forty patients with squamous cell laryngeal carcinoma and 420 hospitalized patients, afflicted with conditions not related with tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking or recent dietary changes comprised the cases and controls in this study. All patients were interviewed face-to-face in the hospitals with a detailed questionnaire which included queries on 64 food items. Red and total meat intakes were associated with strong increases in risk of laryngeal cancer (odds ratio [OR] for high total meat intake 3.32, 95% confidence interval [C.I.] 1.23-8.95). This effect disappeared after controlling for total fat intake. On the other hand, total fat intake displayed a strong association with risk of laryngeal cancer when red meat was included in the same model (OR for high fat intake 7.05, 95% C.I. 2.51-19.8). Total fat intake combines its effect multiplicatively with tobacco smoking.