The Influence of the Australian Dietary Guidelines on Culinary Textbooks Used in Education over the Last 30 Years

Cookery the Australian Way (CAW), a key culinary textbook, was evaluated to determine whether recipes reflected the prevailing dietary guidelines, specifically to limit saturated fat, added salt, and sugar. Seven-hundred recipes from Editions 3 to 8 were analysed using FoodWorks® 7. Saturated fat, total sugars, and sodium/100 g and per serve was compared using SPSS® (Version 22). A 43% reduction in sodium/100 g in soups and a 50% reduction in sodium/100 g for meats and poultry domain was observed in the 31 years from Editions 3 to 8. A 38% reduction in saturated fat/100 g was observed in the meats and poultry domain across the same time period. Dessert recipes showed a smaller but significant reduction in saturated fat/serve and mixed results for sugar. These observations suggest some modification to reflect dietary guidelines occurred. Cookery texts used in education should incorporate nutrition and reflect dietary guidelines. This series is a positive example for other publishers.