Background: The effect of different dietary markers on inflammatory markers has seldom been assessed in a general population setting. We assessed the effect of single foods, nutrients, dietary patterns and scores on inflammatory markers (CRP, IL-6, TNF-α and leucocyte count). Methods: Cross-sectional study including 4027 participants (46.5% men, 57.2±10.2 years) in Lausanne, Switzerland (CoLaus study). Dietary intake was collected between 2009-2012 using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Besides single foods and nutrients, three naive (using principal components analysis - PCA) and four oriented (Mediterranean, Alternative Healthy Eating Index - AHEI) dietary scores were used. Results: Three dietary patterns explaining 20% of total variance were obtained and named “Meat & chips” (positive loadings for meat and French fries); “Pastries & fat” (positive loadings for hard fats, pastries and sugar) and “Fruits & vegetables” (positive loadings for fruits & vegetables). After multivariate adjustment on total energy intake, gender and other socio-demographic factors, fruit intake, the “Fruits & vegetables” pattern, the Mediterranean and the AHEI scores were negatively associated with CRP levels (standardized regression scores: -0.043, -0.054, -0.043 and -0.067, respectively, all p<0.01). The “Fruits & vegetables” pattern was also negatively associated with leucocyte count (standardized regression score: -0.057, p<0.01). Conversely, no association between nutrients and inflammatory markers and between all dietary markers and IL-6 or TNF-α was found. Conclusion: global dietary behaviours have a small but significant impact on inflammatory markers in the general population. The effect of individual nutrients or foods (fruits excepted) is of less clinical importance.