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Background Double-blind, placebo-controlled oral food challenges are the gold standard in food allergy diagnosis. Nevertheless, proper masking of peanuts is particularly complex owing to their intense flavor and odor. Thus, it is important to use validated recipes to ensure their adequate masking during oral food challenges. Objective To design and validate recipes containing masked peanuts for double-blind, placebo-controlled oral food challenges. Methods Two types of products (cookies and a custard‑type dessert) containing the masked peanuts and other ingredients with low allergenic potential were designed and validated. For this purpose, of the 24 initial cookie recipes and 12 initial custard recipes developed, those that did not exhibit significant differences in their texture were selected for sensory validation. Results Similarity triangle tests were performed using a panel of 36 selected tasters, enabling the validation of 1 pair of cookie recipes and 1 pair of custard-type dessert recipe, both with low allergenic potential and suitable for those with celiac disease and for vegans. Conclusion The validated recipes are of clinical and research interest because they allow to confirm a peanut allergy and detect a wide range of tolerated threshold doses, which makes it possible to provide specific indications for each patient.

This study aimed to devise innovative, tailor-made, appealing, tasty and semi-industrialized dishes, using sustainable and under-utilized seafood species (bib, common dab, common carp, blue mussel and blue whiting), that can meet the specific nutritional and functional needs of children (8-10-years), pregnant women (20-40-years) and seniors (≥60-years). Hence, contests were organised among cooking schools from 6 European countries and the best recipes/dishes were reformulated, semi-industrially produced and chemically and microbiologically evaluated. The dishes intended for: (i) children and pregnant women had EPA + DHA and I levels that reached the target quantities, supporting the claim as "high in I"; and (ii) seniors were "high in protein" (24.8%-Soup_S and 34.0%-Balls_S of the energy was provided by proteins), "high in vitamin B12", and had Na contents (≤0.4%) below the defined limit. All dishes reached the vitamin D target value. Sausages_C, Roulade_P, Fillet_P and Balls_S had a well-balanced protein/fat ratio. Roulade_P presented the highest n-3 PUFA/n-6 PUFA ratio (3.3), while Sausages_C the lowest SFA/UNS ratio (0.2). Dishes were considered safe based on different parameters (e.g. Hg-T, PBDEs, Escherichia coli). All represent dietary sources contributing to meet the reference intakes of target nutrients (33->100%), providing valuable options to overcome nutritional and functional imbalances of the three groups., This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement no. 773400 (SEAFOODTOMORROW). This work was also supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Project CEX 2018-000794-S), the Generalitat de Catalunya (Consolidated Research Group Water and Soil Quality Unit 2017 SGR 1404) and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (MCTES) through national funds (UID/QUI/50006/2019, UIDB/50006/2020, UIDP/50006/2020, UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020). The authors also thank FCT and the European Union's H2020 Research and Innovation Programme for funding through the project Systemic - An integrated approach to the challenge of sustainable food systems: adaptive and mitigatory strategies to address climate change and malnutrition. Sara Cunha also acknowledges FCT for the IF/01616/2015 contract. Biotage is acknowledged for providing SPE cartridges and Bekolut for the QuEChERS kits. This output reflects the views only of the author(s), and the European Union cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

Social media is increasingly becoming a significant source of information for parents, including about feeding young children. However, little attention has been given to the characteristics of recipes for infants and young children and how they interact with parental perceptions regarding food decisions shared by users on social media. Building on findings related to shared recipe components and parental food choices, between December 2019 and July 2020, this study retrospectively collected 80 shared recipes each from five Thai Facebook groups. This extraction created 379 shared recipes with 1751 peers’ commentaries on the shared recipes’ posts. The shared recipes were classified and components quantified across child age groups, then the textual contents around the reasons behind the food choices were described qualitatively. The results showed that there were differences in meal types, food ingredients, and seasoning used across child age groups. Further analysis found that food allergy awareness was one driving concern behind parental perceptions on food choices in children’s diets. These concerns resulted in delays in the introduction of animal-source foods. Moreover, peers’ commentaries on shared recipes offered a venue for exchanging experiences with food products. Because of the potential influence on parental beliefs and perceptions, further studies are required to understand the impact of existing online communities on actual feeding practices.

Background Homemade diets are a worldwide trend, and many recipes are currently available on websites but may not be considered balanced. This study aimed to evaluate if the number of ingredients, supplement, or vegetarian/vegan-only ingredients included in a recipe influence the nutrient content of homemade diets for dogs and cats. Chemical analyses were performed on 75 diets for dogs and 25 for cats prepared according to websites’ recipes, and minerals were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Results Canine diets that met fat requirements had more ingredients than those below recommendations. None of the cat diets met iron requirements, and feline diets that met requirements of manganese had fewer ingredients and those that supplied requirements of protein and sodium had more ingredients than the diets below recommendations (p p p = 0.003), but there was a higher amount of crude fiber (p = 0.014) in vegetarian/vegan diets. Conclusion The number of ingredients and vegetarian/vegan preparation did not guarantee nutritional adequacy of diets, and the presence of supplement did not ensure a balanced diet.

Spicier food in hot countries has been explained in terms of natural selection on human cultures, with spices with antimicrobial effects considered to be an adaptation to increased risk of foodborne infection. However, correlations between culture and environment are difficult to interpret, because many cultural traits are inherited together from shared ancestors, neighbouring cultures are exposed to similar conditions, and many cultural and environmental variables show strong covariation. Here, using a global dataset of 33,750 recipes from 70 cuisines containing 93 different spices, we demonstrate that variation in spice use is not explained by temperature and that spice use cannot be accounted for by diversity of cultures, plants, crops or naturally occurring spices. Patterns of spice use are not consistent with an infection-mitigation mechanism, but are part of a broader association between spice, health, and poverty. This study highlights the challenges inherent in interpreting patterns of human cultural variation in terms of evolutionary pressures.

This exploratory study examined the ways in which people communicate about food online by analyzing food-related conversations on Reddit, a social news networking site. The Meaning Extraction Helper (MEH) was used to analyze 2 corpora and define central themes related to online food talk. In light of these themes, the researchers discuss socio-cultural components shaping the food conversations in our society in general as well as healthy versus unhealthy communities, and provided specific directions for future empirical research.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) plays an important role in glucose homeostasis. Evidence is emerging that dietary bioactive phytochemicals such as polyphenols can increase GLP-1 concentration in vivo. Spices are rich in polyphenols and have oro-sensory properties, both of which can increase GLP-1 secretion. We therefore investigated the effects of mixed spices intake on postprandial GLP-1 concentration. Using a randomised, controlled, dose-response crossover trial in 20 young, healthy, Chinese men, volunteers were served white rice with 3 doses of curry made with mixed spices and vegetables. These test meals were isocaloric and macronutrient matched. Plasma total GLP-1 concentrations were measured before (baseline) and for up to 3 h after the consumption of test meals. We found a significant dose dependent increase in total AUC of plasma GLP-1 concentrations, adjusted for baseline, with increasing mixed spice doses [adjusted mean (±SEM) of 10568.3 ± 1267.9, 12391.8 ± 1333.94, and 13905.1 ± 1267.6 pg ml−1.min for Dose 0 Control, Dose 1 Curry and Dose 2 Curry respectively (p = 0.019)]. Consumption of polyphenol rich mixed spices and vegetables can therefore increase in vivo GLP-1 concentration.

The promotion of home cooking is a strategy used to improve diet quality and health. However, modern home cooking typically includes the use of processed food which can lead to negative outcomes including weight gain. In addition, interventions to improve cooking skills do not always explain how theory informed their design and implementation. The Behaviour Change Technique (BCT) taxonomy successfully employed in other areas has identified essential elements for interventions. This study investigated the effectiveness of different instructional modes for learning to cook a meal, designed using an accumulating number of BCTs, on participant's perceived difficulty, enjoyment, confidence and intention to cook from basic ingredients.\ud \ud 141 mothers aged between 20 and 39 years from the island of Ireland were randomised to one of four conditions based on BCTs (1) recipe card only [control condition]; (2) recipe card plus video modelling; (3) recipe card plus video prompting; (4) recipe card plus video elements. Participants rated their enjoyment, perceived difficulty, confidence and intention to cook again pre, mid and post experiment. Repeated one-way factorial ANOVAs, correlations and a hierarchical regression model were conducted.\ud \ud Despite no significant differences between the different conditions, there was a significant increase in enjoyment (P

This purpose of this study was to compare the nutritional content of vegetarian recipes published in food blogs written by registered dietitians (RDs) and by non-registered dietitians (non-RDs). Twelve food blogs written by RDs and 12 written by non-RDs were selected using a systematic approach. For each food blog, 2 vegetarian entrée recipes per season were selected (n = 192 recipes). Descriptive analyses were performed using Fisher’s exact test. Median nutritional values per serving between RDs’ and non-RDs’ recipes were compared using Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney tests. RDs’ recipes were significantly lower in energy, non-heme iron, vitamin C, and sodium, contained significantly more vitamin D and had a higher protein proportion than non-RDs’ recipes. Disparities were also observed across type of entrée and vegetarian dietary pattern. In conclusion, this study showed that RD and non-RD food bloggers provided vegetarian recipes with few nutritional differences. Whether expanding the comparative analysis between RDs and non-RDs’ blogs targeting different nutrition-related topics would yield different results remains to be investigated.

Objective This study evaluated consumer acceptance of recipes in a nutrition education intervention and assessed participants’ intentions to change dietary behaviors. Design Study participants tasted and evaluated 16 recipes in the University of Georgia Food Talk curriculum using the 9-point hedonic scale and indicated their likelihood of engaging in behaviors to improve diet quality on a similar, ordinal scale. Setting and Participants Convenience samples of 89 to 122 adult participants in the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program in Georgia evaluated each recipe. Intervention Eight interactive nutrition education sessions in which study participants sampled and evaluated 2 recipes per session. Main Outcome Measures Mean scores for overall liking of each recipe and likelihood of engaging in promoted behaviors to improve diet quality were outcomes of interest. Analysis Descriptive statistics were generated. Relationships between overall liking of recipes and intention to engage in promoted behaviors were assessed with Spearman correlation coefficients. Results Results showed that 13 of the 16 recipes in the curriculum met criteria for acceptable sensory quality. Overall liking was significantly correlated with participants’ intentions to engage in behaviors to improve diet quality. Notable age- and sex-related differences were identified. Conclusions and Implications Evaluations of consumer acceptance may be useful in interventions designed to improve diet quality through the introduction of new recipes as improving consumer acceptance of recipes may improve program outcomes.

Portrait pose orientations influence perception: the left cheek is more emotionally expressive; females' right cheeks appear more attractive. Posing biases are established in paintings, photographs, and advertisements, however, book covers have not previously been examined. This paper assesses cover image orientation in a book genre that frequently features a cover portrait: the celebrity cookbook. If marketers intuitively choose to enhance chefs' emotional expressivity, left cheek poses should predominate; if attractiveness is more important, right cheek poses will be more frequent for females, with a left or no cheek bias for males. Celebrity cookbook covers (N = 493) were sourced online; identity, portrait orientation, photo type, and sex were coded. For celebrity cookbooks, left cheek covers (39.6%) were more frequent than right cheek (31.6%) or midline covers (28.8%); sex did not predict pose orientation. An interaction between photo type and sex bordered on significance: photo type did not influence females' pose orientation; for males, the left cheek bias present for head and torso images was absent for full body and head only photos. Overall, the left cheek bias for celebrity cookbook covers implies that marketers intuitively select images that make the chefs appear happier and/or more emotionally expressive, enhancing engagement with the audience.

Increasing home cooking while decreasing the consumption of food prepared away from home is a commonly recommended weight management strategy, however research on where individuals obtain ideas about meals to cook at home is limited. This study examined the characteristics of individuals who reported using traditional and Internet-based resources for meal ideas. 583 participants who were ≥50% responsible for household meal planning were recruited to approximate the 2014 United States Census distribution on sex, age, race/ethnicity, and household income. Participants reported demographic characteristics, home cooking frequency, and their use of 4 traditional resources for meal ideas (e.g., cookbooks), and 7 Internet-based resources for meal ideas (e.g., Pinterest) in an online survey. Independent samples t-tests compared home cooking frequency by resource use. Association rule learning identified those demographic characteristics that were significantly associated with resource use. Family and friends (71%), food community websites (45%), and cookbooks (41%) were the most common resources reported. Cookbook users reported preparing more meals at home per week (M = 9.65, SD = 5.28) compared to non-cookbook users (M = 8.11, SD = 4.93; t = −3.55, p

Background and aims Summer squash, the young fruits of Cucurbita pepo, are a common, high-value fruit vegetable. Of the summer squash, the zucchini, C. pepo subsp. pepo Zucchini Group, is by far the most cosmopolitan. The zucchini is easily distinguished from other summer squash by its uniformly cylindrical shape and intense colour. The zucchini is a relatively new cultivar-group of C. pepo, the earliest known evidence for its existence having been a description in a book on horticulture published in Milan in 1901. For this study, Italian-language books on agriculture and cookery dating from the 16th to 19th centuries have been collected and searched in an effort to follow the horticultural development and culinary use of young Cucurbita fruits in Italy. Findings The results indicate that Cucurbita fruits, both young and mature, entered Italian kitchens by the mid-16th century. A half-century later, round and elongate young fruits of C. pepo were addressed as separate cookery items and the latter had largely replaced the centuries-old culinary use of young, elongate bottle gourds, Lagenaria siceraria Allusion to a particular, extant cultivar of the longest fruited C. pepo, the Cocozelle Group, dates to 1811 and derives from the environs of Naples. The Italian diminutive word zucchini arose by the beginning of the 19th century in Tuscany and referred to small, mature, desiccated bottle gourds used as containers to store tobacco. By the 1840s, the Tuscan word zucchini was appropriated to young, primarily elongate fruits of C. pepo The Zucchini Group traces its origins to the environs of Milan, perhaps as early as 1850. The word zucchini and the horticultural product zucchini arose contemporaneously but independently. The results confirm that the Zucchini Group is the youngest of the four cultivar-groups of C. pepo subsp. pepo but it emerged approximately a half-century earlier than previously known.

Traditional Indian cuisine is packed with fresh, bold flavors and a riot of hearty and aromatic spices. Although the tastes may be exotic, cooking Indian foods at home is surprisingly easy and healthy. Now, you can buy Indian spices and other ingredients at your local supermarket or online at Indian grocery stores or spice shops. This new accessibility is important. In the U.S. Asian Indians are much more likely to have diabetes than other Asians or even the general population. Better access to ingredients means it's easier than ever to prepare traditional, diabetes friendly dishes. And for those who are new to Indian cuisine, it's a wonderful time to dive into a new world of fragrance and color.

The aims of the present study were to assess the prevalence of recipes about invalid cookery in Australian cookbooks published from 1860 to 1950; describe the dishes regarded as suitable for invalids and summarise the advice about how best to feed invalids or convalescents in the home.Using published bibliographies, the Trove database, and the author's private collection, all available cookbooks published in Australia up to 1950 were reviewed and all recipes and advice about feeding invalids were recorded.Eight hundred and eighty-nine book titles were examined and 25% contained some recipes specifically designed for people who were sick or convalescing. One thousand, four hundred and seventy-one different recipes were recorded with more than half for beverages, desserts and soups. The most common recipes were for beef tea, barley water, gruel and meat broths. Advice about feeding focused on the food requirements of invalids, safe and appealing meal service, cooking methods and suitable food choices. The recipes and advice did not appear to change substantially over the nine decades and most did not appear to be based on any clear scientific evidence.Many of the general principles of invalid cookery in these books are similar to the requirements of the light diet, commonly used in Australian hospitals up until the 1980s. Further research into the source and rationale for the advice in these books would be worthwhile.

Additional strategies to evaluate the impact of community nutrition education programs on low-income individuals are needed. The objective of this qualitative study was to examine the use of the Memorable Messages Framework as an intermediary nutrition education program evaluation tool to determine what fruit and vegetable messages were reported as memorable and the characteristics of those memorable messages. A convenience sample of low-income, primarily African American adults ( N = 58) who previously completed a series of community nutrition education lessons within an urban area of Indiana participated in a focus group ( N = 8 focus groups). A lead moderator using a semistructured script conducted the focus groups to determine what information about fruits and vegetables was most memorable from the participants’ nutrition lessons and why this information was memorable. All focus group audiotapes were transcribed verbatim and ATLAS.ti software was used to code and identify themes within the data. Participants cited quantity, variety, and the positive nutritional impact of eating fruits and vegetables as most memorable. Information given in the form of recipes was also cited as most memorable. For example, participants referred to the recipe demonstrations as not only fun but also key components of the program that helped with message retention and memorability. Key characteristics of memorable messages included personal relevance and message vividness. These findings indicated that the Memorable Messages Framework may serve as an intermediary program evaluation tool to identify what information and messages are most influential to participants in community nutrition education programs.

Intake of fruits and vegetables (FV) continues to be low in children in the United States. The purpose of this study was to conduct a pilot feasibility evaluation of Brighter Bites, a school-based food co-op to provide access to fresh FV and nutrition education to low-income children and their families. Brighter Bites is a 16-week school-based food co-op consisting of: (1) Weekly distribution of 50-60 servings of fresh FV; (2) Weekly bilingual parent handouts and recipe demonstrations; and (3) implementing CATCH, a coordinated school health program in schools. Brighter Bites was pilot tested using a pre-post evaluation design in one charter school in Houston, TX, USA (n = 57 3rd grade parent-child dyads; 94.1 % Hispanic, 91 % low-income). Evaluation, at baseline, midpoint, and post-intervention, included self-reported child and parent surveys on psychosocial factors, dietary habits and mealtime practices. Pearson's Chi square test, Fisher's exact-test or paired t test were used to determine changes pre- to post-intervention (at p0.05). Process data using parent surveys, teacher surveys, attendance logs, and produce cost data were used to determine feasibility and acceptability of program. Participants received on average 61 servings of FV weekly for 16 weeks at the cost of $4.31/family/week. Results showed significant increases in child reported self-efficacy, outcome expectations and attitudes towards consuming FV (p0.05). We found significant increases in child exposure to FV and child preference of various FV from baseline to post-intervention (p0.05). Parent surveys showed significant improvements in mealtime practices at home: decrease in children eating while watching TV, increase in eating dinner with the family, less fast food, less sugary drinks with meals, more children asking for FV as snacks. Process data showed 98 % retention rate and high parent acceptability of program components. Brighter Bites is a promising strategy to increase FV access and education in low-income populations using existing infrastructure of schools and food banks.

This chapter focuses on the individualistic nature of medicine by considering manuscript recipe collections, and the concerns and rhetoric of the elite patients who wrote about fashionable diseases and experienced them. Domestic medicine in the eighteenth century was a facet of elite health care that included commercial medicine and professional assistance. Looking broadly at the fashionability of health care, including the fashionability of the consumer goods and services linked to self-management and leisure time, reveals the realities of fashionable diseases in elite lives. The sociocultural rhetoric of fashionable diseases was incorporated into the recipe collecting tradition, but experiences of suffering and a need for care continued to be at the forefront of the discourse in domestic medicine and this writing tradition. This essay argues also that domestic rhetoric and experiences of fashionable disease were significantly driven by consumerism.

Background: It is important to establish good dietary practices in childhood that promote adequate calcium intake throughout life and reduce the risk of osteoporotic fractures in later life. Objectives: To assess dietary patterns of 2–16-year-old children with special reference to calcium and suggest strategies and develop recipes suitable to identified patterns to increase dietary calcium intake. Methods: We studied 220 schoolchildren (2–16 years) around Pune city, India. The study duration was June 2013–July 2014. Height and weight were measured using standard protocols. Dietary intake was assessed by 24-h diet recall on 3 nonconsecutive days. Dietary patterns were derived by cluster analysis in two age groups; children (2–9 years) and adolescents (10–16 years). As per the dietary patterns, calcium-rich recipes were developed. Results: Among children, “rice-pulse” (RP) and “wheat, milk, and milk products” (WM) patterns were observed. Among adolescents, RP, “wheat, milk, and bakery” (WMB), and “mixed food” patterns were observed. Children who consumed “WM” and “WMB” patterns had greater intake of calcium (P < 0.05) than children consuming other dietary patterns. The daily calcium intake of whole group was 53% of the recommended dietary allowance. From this, 30% calcium came from milk. Each serve of the developed recipe provided an average of 254 mg of calcium. Conclusion: Majority of children had cereal-pulse-based dietary patterns. By replacing foods from existing dietary patterns with calcium-rich foods, the dietary calcium content may be increased in a sustainable manner.

ObjectiveThe present study describes the procedure and approaches needed to adapt and harmonise the GloboDiet methodology, a computer- and interview-based 24 h dietary recall, for use in two Latin American pilot countries, Brazil and Mexico.DesignAbout seventy common and country-specific databases on foods, recipes, dietary supplements, quantification methods and coefficients were customised and translated following standardised guidelines, starting from existing Spanish and Portuguese versions.SettingBrazil and Mexico.SubjectsNot applicable.ResultsNew subgroups were added into the existing common food classification together with new descriptors required to better classify and describe specific Brazilian and Mexican foods. Quantification methods were critically evaluated and adapted considering types and quantities of food consumed in these two countries, using data available from previous surveys. Furthermore, the photos to be used for quantification purposes were identified for compilation in country-specific but standardised picture booklets.ConclusionsThe completion of the customisation of the GloboDiet Latin America versions in these two pilot countries provides new insights into the adaptability of this dietary international tool to the Latin American context. The ultimate purpose is to enable dietary intake comparisons within and between Latin American countries, support building capacities and foster regional and international collaborations. The development of the GloboDiet methodology could represent a major benefit for Latin America in terms of standardised dietary methodologies for multiple surveillance, research and prevention purposes.

To demonstrate the feasibility of introducing a main dish designed by a professional chef in the National School Lunch Program and to document the impact on child participation, a chef was recruited to design pizza to be served in an upstate New York school district. The pizza was designed to meet both the cost and ingredient requirements of the NSLP. High school students were significantly more likely to select the pizza prepared by the chef. While the chef had no significant impact on main dish consumption given selection, more students took a vegetable and vegetable consumption increased by 16.5%. This pilot study demonstrates the plausibility of using chefs to boost participation in the school lunch program, and potentially increase nutrition through side selection, among high school students.

The notion of cookbooks as socio-historic markers in a society is generally accepted within food studies. As both representations and prescriptions of food practices, perceived habits and attitudes towards food, they represent a certain identity for their readers. This paper investigates the nature of the identity that Belgian cookbooks constructed through their rhetoric. An important part of this study is to explore how and to what extent explicit reference to Belgium was made. To this end recipe titles/labels and recipe comments used in two leading bourgeois cookbooks from nineteenth-century Belgium were subjected to a quantitative and qualitative content analysis. The analysis showed that clear attention was paid to national culinary preferences. In terms of a domestic culinary corpus, it became apparent that both the Dutch and French editions of these cookbooks promoted dishes that were ascribed a Belgian origin. Internationality, however, was also an important building block of Belgian culinary identity. It was part of the desire of Belgian bourgeoisie to connect with an international elite. It fit into the 'search for sophistication', which was also expressed through the high representation of the more costly meats and sweet dishes. In addition, other references associated with bourgeois norms and values, such as family, convenience and frugality, were additional building blocks of Belgian culinary identity. Other issues such as tradition, innovation and health, were also matters of concerns to these Belgian cookbooks.

Objective To determine whether sampled food blogs provide nutritionally balanced recipes. Methods Two entree recipes per season, per year (2010–2011) were selected from 6 highly ranked food blogs (n = 96). Food Processor Nutrition and Fitness software was used to analyze sodium, saturated fat, and energy content. Analysis was separated by protein type (vegetarian, poultry, red meat, and seafood). Results Recipes met energy recommendations but were excessive in saturated fat and sodium. Vegetarian and seafood recipes were significantly lower in risk nutrients compared with red meat and poultry recipes. Red meat recipes were not significantly different from poultry recipes for risk nutrients studied; poultry recipes were higher in sodium and energy compared with red meat recipes. Conclusions and Implications The public should be aware of the nutritional limitations of popular food blogs; dietitians could assist in modifying blog recipes for individuals and partner with bloggers to improve the nutritional profile of recipes.

A cross-sectional study was undertaken to collect and assess commonly consumed foods/recipes from the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria for the production of food composition database (FCDB) for dietary assessment. Communities used were selected using a multi-stage sampling plan. Focus group discussions, interviews, recipe documentation, food preparations and literature reviews were employed. Qualitative methods were used to analyse and present data. SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis was used to evaluate the project. A total of 322 recipes were collected out of which 110 were soups. Food consumption patterns across the geographical zones were found to be changing. Variations in recipes and methods of preparation of similar foods were observed. Factors to be considered in the development of a country-specific FCDB were identified. There were challenges with the use of values reported in literature for Nigerian foods. The study justifies the need for a country-specific FCDB that will include traditional recipes.

Background: Large portion sizes have been associated with large energy intake, which can contribute to the development of overweight and obesity. Portion sizes of non-home cooked food have increased in the past 20 years, however, less is known about portion sizes of home-cooked food. Aim: The aim of the study was to assess if the portion sizes measured in calories in Danish cookbook recipes have changed throughout the past 100 years. Methods: Portion size measured in calories was determined by content-analysis of 21 classic Danish recipes in 13 editions of the famous Danish cookbook “Food” from 1909 to 2009. Calorie content of the recipes was determined in standard nutritional software, and the changes in calories were examined by simple linear regression analyses. Results: Mean portion size in calories increased significantly by 21% (β = 0.63; p < 0.01) over the past 100 years in the analyzed recipes. The mean portion size in calories from a composed homemade meal increased by 77% (β = 2.88; p < 0.01). The mean portion size in calories from meat increased by 27% (β = 0.85; p = 0.03), starchy products increased by 148% (β = 1.28; p < 0.01), vegetables increased by 37% (β = 0.21; p = 0.13) and sauce increased by 47% (β = 0.56; p = 0.02) throughout the years. Conclusions: Portion sizes measured in calories in classical Danish recipes have increased significantly in the past 100 years and can be an important factor in increased energy intake and the risk of developing overweight and obesity.

mHealth apps are not being used. Over 45,000 mhealth apps are languishing in mobile app stores. We evaluated over 200 diabetes mobile apps found in the Apple and Google app stores using a framework that we recently published. None of the apps met all 15 criteria identified by our framework. The largest number of apps fell into the category of Type 1 diabetes blood sugar and medication trackers. Other types of apps included educational apps such as recipe apps, guideline dissemination apps, simple diabetes education apps, etc. There is a need for more Type 2 apps and for all types of apps that are better integrated into EMRs for more holistic care that can be prescribed by clinicians and monitored and supported by the health care team.

There is no evidence available indicating whether popular infant and young child feeding (IYCF) cookbooks provide nutritious options for home-cooking, what the most common food types are within the recipes, and what accompanying dietary advice is provided to parents. This study surveyed available IYCF cookbooks from local libraries and Amazon UK's top 20 bestsellers (May to July 2013 to examine the prevalence and nutritional content of cookbook recipes comparing these to recommendations whilst investigating the messages portrayed towards parents on giving different foods to their child during IYCF. Vegetable-based recipes (median=29) predominated main-meal options while a proportional number of red meat, poultry and seafood-based recipes were included providing parents with options of protein-rich recipes for their young child. These home-cooked recipes adequately met or exceeded age-specific dietary recommendations. Mixed messages were apparent on the inclusion of foods during IYCF within and across these cookbooks, in particular for seafood, highlighting a lack of consistent advice portrayed to parents during the early years. Community-based health professionals should advise parents of the inconsistent and incorrect messages on food inclusion portrayed in some IYCF cookbooks and guide them towards formal recommendations.