Ghana

In the local 2017 sample, eating peaks occurred at 7–8 am, 12–1 pm and 5–7 pm. These describe the studied neighbourhoods, not a national schedule.

The local 2017 sample reported a mean of 3.3 eating episodes per day, including food and beverages except water alone; this is neither 3.3 main meals nor a national average.

Of the eating episodes reported by the local 2017 sample, 40.1% lasted under 10 min, 47.0% lasted 10–29 min and 12.9% at least 30 min. A national mean duration was not calculated.

In the November–December 2008 study, the table for the Tolon-Kumbungu school-feeding group attributes 24% of measured daily energy intake to school lunch. That table is based on 174 participating schoolchildren. This is neither a national breakfast/lunch/dinner allocation nor a percentage of energy requirements.

One Kaadjanor account collected between May and July 2019 describes a mother delegating cooking to her sister when working at weekends, while doing the weekday cooking herself. This illustrates a specific household reorganisation; it does not establish meal schedules or dietary changes across Ghana.

In the local 2017 sample, 81.9% of eating episodes took place at home and 6.3% on the street. Eating at home does not establish that the food was prepared there; these are not national percentages.

In the May–July 2019 interviews, 14 of 20 rural informants in Asaase Kokoo (70.0%) reported cooking twice daily every day. In Kaadjanor, 7 of 13 peri-urban informants (53.8%) reported cooking once daily on three or four days per week. This is a local purposive sample, not a national cooking frequency.

In the local 2017 sample, 45.4% of eating episodes were alone and 47.3% with family. The unit is an eating episode, not the proportion of people who usually eat alone.

Food availability in 2021 for three starchy commodities: cassava and products, 217.99 kg/capita/year; yams, 147.39; maize and products, 31.72. These are national food-supply estimates, not quantities eaten.

Catalogue sample: 6 published recipes. Ingredient presence, counted as recipes in the sample: Salt 5/6; Water 5/6; Garlic 3/6; Olive oil 2/6; Lemons 2/6; Red bell pepper 2/6; Green pepper 2/6; Red onion 2/6; Fermented corn dough 2/6; Oil for frying 2/6; Cayenne pepper 2/6; Onion 1/6; Lemon juice 1/6; Chicken stock 1/6; Ripe bananas 1/6; Peanut butter 1/6; White fish 1/6; Scotch bonnet chile 1/6; Long-grain rice 1/6; White sugar 1/6; Canned red beans 1/6; Dried waakye leaves 1/6; Fine salt 1/6; Cornstarch 1/6; Fermented cassava dough 1/6; Whole tilapia 1/6; Medium onions 1/6; Canned tomato 1/6; Grated fresh ginger 1/6; Whole tilapia 1/6; Cassava dough 1/6; Fresh herbs 1/6; White corn flour 1/6; Dried corn husks 1/6; Tomato paste 1/6; Canola oil 1/6; Canned stewed tomatoes 1/6. These are catalogue counts, not measures of the Ghanaian diet.

In 2021, food availability of maize and products was 31.72 kg/capita/year. This is national food-balance supply, not cooked-maize weight or individual intake; it does not quantify all cereals.

The intake list for the neighbourhoods studied in 2017 includes white bread, with the names sugar bread, butter bread and tea bread. These names do not specify recipes or establish national per-capita amounts.

The food list from the local 2017 sample includes red beans and baked beans. It also includes waakye, described as cooked rice and beans. It provides neither national per-capita amounts nor a dry-to-cooked weight equivalence.

In the national 2023 survey, reported vegetable consumption averaged 2.7 servings per day and 6.0 days in a typical week. The two means have different response bases; they do not identify the most consumed vegetables or their weighed amounts.

In the national 2023 survey, reported fruit consumption averaged 0.8 servings per day and 2.2 days in a typical week. These quantity and frequency indicators have different response bases; they are neither weighed grams nor a ranking of fruits.

Food availability in 2021: cassava and products, 217.99 kg/capita/year; yams, 147.39. These are national food-balance commodity groups, not quantities eaten by individuals or cooked-root weights.

Meat food supply was 20.90 kg per person per year in 2021.

Fish and seafood food supply was 23.60 kg per person per year in 2021.

Egg food supply was 1.07 kg per person per year in 2021. It is not converted to a number of eggs.

Food supply for the milk excluding butter category was 13.17 kg per person per year in 2021. This is not presented as the amount of liquid milk drunk.

In the local school sample observed in 2008, animal-source protein accounted for a published average of 4% of protein intake.

In 2021, food supply was 2.25 kg of palm oil, 0.17 kg of coconut oil and 0.42 kg of animal fats per person per year. These are selected categories and are not added together.

Across the 6 catalogue recipes reviewed in 2026, Cayenne pepper occurs in 2; Scotch bonnet chile, grated fresh ginger and fresh herbs occur in 1 each. The fresh-herbs label does not identify species.

A teaching example of shito combines powdered herring and shrimp with tomato, onion, spices and oil to make a hot sauce. It is an illustrative version, not a single recipe for all Ghana.

In the local interviews, 86.7% mentioned porridge as a common breakfast option. Tea with bread, tuo zaafi and rice dishes were also mentioned.

For lunch, 100% of interviewees mentioned tuo zaafi. This is a response about commonly eaten foods in that sample, not evidence that lunch is the main meal by energy.

For supper, 93.3% of interviewees mentioned tuo zaafi. The table also records rice, fufu, yam, banku and pigeon peas; options are not mutually exclusive.

As a snack option, 63.3% of interviewees mentioned biscuits or pastries. This is the share mentioning that option, not the percentage of snacks eaten or a daily frequency.

The local food-consumption list includes sweet pies or tarts, pastries, biscuits, chocolate, sweets, ice cream, groundnut cake, doughnuts and bofrot. It documents kinds of sweets without establishing that they were eaten as dessert or how often they followed meals.

Median lunch portion size was 1037 g for the group without school feeding, eating lunch at home, and 456 g for the group receiving lunch at school. These are different meals and settings, not a standard Ghanaian portion.

Fried foods were present in 42.4% of recorded eating episodes. This is their presence in episodes in this local sample, not the percentage of food weight or frequency of household frying-pan use.

One rural informant described grinding tomatoes and boiling the paste for storage. This is a qualitative case of heat treatment of a vegetable, without verified raw-versus-cooked preparation shares.

Among the rural households interviewed, 55.0% reported smoking and drying fish and meat for storage. These are reported sample practices, not validated preservation guidance.

The school study identifies dawadawa as a condiment made from fermented Parkia biglobosa seeds. It documents this product in the diet studied, without national frequency or a fermentation procedure.

Refrigerators were owned by 41.9% of households and freezers by 14.8%. These are separate ownership indicators and are not added.

Fruit juice or fruit-flavoured drinks were reported by 10.0%, and sodas, malt, sports or energy drinks by 19.0%, during the preceding day or night. These are two separately published categories, not their shares of all beverages.

The combined category of sweetened tea, coffee, herbal drinks and other sweetened beverages was reported by 17.4% for the preceding day or night. Its note includes Milo, tea with sugar and coffee with sugar; this is not a separate tea or coffee estimate.

In the local sample’s aggregate time profile, sugar-sweetened beverage consumption tended to peak with or just after meals. This describes an episode pattern, without percentages of people taking each beverage with each meal.

Estimated mean energy was 2611 kcal/day in the rural group and 2295 kcal/day in the urban group. Energy percentages from carbohydrate, fat and protein were 56.5%, 31.3% and 11.5% in the rural group, and 54.4%, 31.6% and 13.6% in the urban group, respectively.

Published median salt-equivalent intake estimated from 24-hour urine was 8.3 g/day. This is the substudy estimate, not a new sodium conversion or a sugar measurement.

Adherence to the roots, tubers and plantain pattern was higher in the rural group; adherence to the rice, pasta, meat and fish pattern was higher in the urban group. These are statistical food patterns, not self-reported vegetarian, vegan or flexitarian categories.

Published mean actual food expenditure: 1931 GH¢ per person per year; food, including imputed expenditure, accounts for 42.9% of total expenditure.

Published minimum cost of a modelled urban food basket: 6.44 GHS per family per day.

Hallmark Café’s menu lists Shredded Chicken Jollof at 90 GHS per dish.

In the rural locality, local markets supplement home-produced foods; in the peri-urban locality, accounts mention markets and grocery stores.

49% reported food shopping 2–3 times per week; 24.8% once per week; and 14.5% 4–6 times per week.

Accounts describe some meals bought from vendors outside the home. One rural interviewee mentions fried yam and, sometimes, gari with sugar and groundnuts.

The published household food-waste estimate is 84 kg per person per year, based on a historical Ghanaian study.

Mango has a May–July season and a short December–February season in southern Ghana. Citrus harvests are described from October to March and April to July, depending on variety; pineapple is grown throughout the year.

At Homowo, Ga communities in Greater Accra prepare and share kpokpoi, steamed maize mixed with palm oil; it is also sprinkled ceremonially. The celebration recalls overcoming a famine.