Introduction:

Typical traditional preparations include minimally processed ingredients from local agriculture, roots and traditions of a territory. Globally, the population has changed its dietary patterns, incorporating ultra-processed foods, impacting population and planetary health.

Objective:

To identify the sustainability and prevalence of consumption of typical Chilean traditional preparations in households in central-southern Chile.

Materials and Methods:

Descriptive cross-sectional design, with a sample of 104 households using non-probabilistic convenience sampling. The sustainability of 34 typical Chilean traditional preparations was identif ied, applying the NOVA food classif ication system according to degree and type of processing. The preparations were classif ied as sustainable (>60% of group 1 ingredients), moderately sustainable (50- 60%) and non-sustainable (<50%). The Bioethics Committee of the Universidad del Bío-Bío approved the study. Data analysis considered f requencies, percentages and 95%CI in STATA 17.0.

Results:

64% of the preparations were classif ied as sustainable, 23% moderately sustainable, and 13% non-sustainable. Sustainable preparations are the most consumed by households, especially those that include pulses. Unsustainable preparations households consume are based on ref ined flour, hydrogenated vegetable shortening and/or oils.

Conclusions:

The sustainability of typical Chilean traditional preparations depends on their ingredients. Sustainable preparations are the most consumed by households in this region and are based on natural or minimally processed foods.