Table 1.

Characteristics of the sample of all standard and limited-time only menu items available at five of Australia’s largest fast-food chains, data collected annually for seven years, 2009–2015

	Standard menu items		Limited-time only menu items		Total menu items
	n	%	n	%	n	P (difference by category)*
Year
2009	181	87	26	13	207	<0·001†
2010	210	84	41	16	251
2011	232	98	4	2	236
2012	223	95	12	5	235
2013	251	88	35	12	286
2014	246	89	30	11	276
2015	231	80	56	20	287
Chain
Hungry Jack’s	85	65	46	35	131	0·18
KFC	51	68	24	32	75
McDonald’s	91	58	67	42	158
Oporto	51	63	30	37	81
Red Rooster	72	67	35	33	107
Menu item category
Breakfast	45	70	19	30	64	0·003†
Burgers	109	64	61	36	170
Desserts	42	55	34	45	76
Chicken & seafood	40	73	15	27	55
Salads	24	56	19	44	43
Sides	40	85	7	15	47
Sandwiches & wraps	50	52	47	48	97

^*Bivariable χ ² test, excluding 2015 data as we cannot be sure of the standard/limited classification for new items in 2015.

^†Denotes significant results, P < 0·05.