The study was carried out on a group of wine consumers, healthy adults, living in one of the areas in Southern Italy, where the ochratoxin A (OTA) levels in wines were very high. OTA levels in consumed wine ranged from 0.2 to 2 ng/ml for 80% of the samples and from 2.10 to 5.40 ng/ml for the other 20%. OTA values in blood (exposure) were lower than 0.28 ng/ml for 30% of the subjects, ranged from 0.28 to 0.34 ng/ml for 43% of the subjects, and reached more than 0.34 ng/ml for 27% of the subjects. Mean OTA measured in urine was 0.43 ng/ml. No significant correlation was found between OTA concentration in blood and in consumed wine, neither between OTA in blood and ingestion levels. OTA levels were determined by HPLC. Individual food consumption habits, gathered in a questionnaire, were studied in association with experimental exposure by means of multiple correspondence analysis. Subjects consuming one or two glasses of red home-produced wine daily were characterised by medium exposure, while those consuming three glasses or half a litre per occasion showed a high exposure; low exposure was associated with weekly consumption of white commercial wine. High quantities of beer and daily consumption of bread and pasta characterised habitual wine consumers, while weekly consumption of beer, bread and chocolate characterised moderate wine consumers.