Advertising food in Australia: Between antinomies and gastro-anomy

Over the past half century, consumers in Australia have increasingly been confronted with a plethora of health food products. This paper focuses on health food that encourages consumption through the promise of health benefits. In this context, media representation of such food serves as a lens to explore the spread of consumer culture in Australia. Using a historical perspective, this paper asserts that in promoting such foods, food “experts” form an advisory nexus in an increasing context of “gastro-anomy” that Fischler (1980) speaks of. Fifty years of advertising, editorial content and articles are examined from the Australian Women’s Weekly. Warde’s (1997) antinomies of tastes are used as a starting point to show how the anxiety and risks associated with food consumption