Analysis of recipes for Korean foods in Web sites

Yoon, Mi Ock; Moon, Hyun Kyung

Abstract

Food and nutrition sites are the major portion of the health information sites. For the point of public health it is very important to secure validity and reliability of information on those web sites. Therefore, in this study we would like to identify problems when acquiring recipes in web sites by analyzing and reviewing recipes in web sites. To investigate Korean food recipes provided in web sites, domestic search engines such as Simmani, Naver, Hanmir, and Empas and foreign search engines such as Yahoo Korea, Lycos and Altabista Korea were used. Searchs were done using 'recipe' and 'Joribeob (cooking method)' from March 20, 2002 to June 20, 2002. Informations in each sites were reviewed and analyzed Results are as follow; When classifying 46sites searched with 'Joribeob' by the information provider, 24sites were individual, 16sites were corporate and 6sites were others. When searching 'recipe', total 12,654recipes were returned. Out of them, individual provided 2,581sites(20.4%), corporate provided 7,249sites(57.3%), and others provided 2,824sites(22.3%). 9,979(78.9%) recipes out of 12,654recipes were proved to be appropriate as Korean food. Classifying recipes by dish group, vegetables 11.7%, soups and hot soups 9.7%, stew and casseroles 8.2%, pan cakes 8.0%, stir fried foods and skewers 7.8%, rice 7.2%, hard boiled food 7.1%, steam 6.4%, noodles and mandu 5.3%, Kimchi 4.5%, fried 4.1%, and porridge 3.7% in order. 21.1% of recipes were not appropriate as Korean food but provided as Korean Food. The proportion of individual as the information provider were higher than that of enterprises. Recipes from enterprises were based on food and nutrient information and more reliable. However, there were some cases that they provided the same amount of ingredients with different calories or provided the same calories with different ingredients. Additionally, depending on sites, they provided different calories even for the same recipe. There were some cases that the calories provided on the site were too high or too low, for the suggested amount of ingredients and serving size. Recipes those provide amount of calories were evaluated using the nutrient analysis program. Calculated calories and provided calories on the Web were compared together. There are difference between two valus. With these results, it may lead misuse of recipe by those who need accuracy in diet such as patients or who are interested in recipe information for academic purposes. These results could be used as basic materials to improve quantity and quality of recipes in the future. Also, to improve the accuracy of recipies for Korean foods in the web sites, there should be some systems to monitor and let internet users know monitoring results.