This paper takes up the conceptual and historical foundations of the cannibalistic component associated with the Freudian conception of orality. The purpose is to examine the basic hypotheses of orality and to analyze its possible contributions to the understanding of eating disorders. First, the historical origin of the term cannibal will be discussed, followed by the ways that cannibalism can be introduced into the field of psychoanalysis. Finally, we discuss the paradoxical relations between desire and need, an approach which shows that eating disorders can be redefined as cannibalistic drives in orality. © 2009 Associação Universitária de Pesquisa em Psicopatologia Fundamental/University Association for Research in Fundamental Psychopathology.