Purpose <p>Prior observational studies and experimental research have suggested a link between dietary patterns and the risk of developing chronic renal failure (CRF). Nevertheless, the causality of that relationship is still uncertain. The aim of the present study was to investigate the causal relationship between the dietary intake of 18 different foods/beverages and the risk of developing CRF through the application of Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis.</p> Methods <p>We conducted a two-sample MR study. The exposure and outcome data were obtained from the UK Biobank and European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) databases, respectively. All the data were obtained from the IEU Open GWAS Project. Five methods were used in this MR analysis. We also conducted a series of sensitivity analyses to ensure the validity of the results.</p> Results <p>Dried fruit intake (OR (95% CI) = 0.447(0.271–0.737), <i>p</i> = 0.002) and cheese intake (OR (95% CI) = 0.678(0.515–0.893), <i>p</i> = 0.006) were associated with a reduced risk of developing CRF, whereas frequent alcohol intake (OR (95% CI) = 1.238(1.052–1.456), <i>p</i> = 0.010) was associated with an increased risk of developing CRF. The sensitivity analysis revealed that our results were robust.</p> Conclusions <p>Our research provides genetic evidence that dried fruit and cheese intake are associated with a decreased risk of developing CRF, whereas frequent alcohol intake is associated with an increased risk of developing CRF. However, additional investigations are needed to verify our findings.</p>