The aim of the article is to compare entries referring to the names of dishes, drinks and food products registered in the 'Dictionary of Polish Language' ed. by Mieczyslaw Szymczak and in the 'Universal Dictionary of Polish Language' ed. by Stanislaw Dubisz. The comparative analysis reveals the structure of neologisms in the researched area - apparently predominant borrowings (mainly French, Italian, English and Spanish), as opposed to word-formation, phrasal and semantic neologisms. It also shows changeable status of numerous names of food which have existed in Polish for long, i.e. transformations of their stylistic shade, at other times - a weakening activity in the lexical capacity in use, until it moves to language archives. Excellent lexicographic tools, which continue Polish tradition at that point, allow better and more accurate registration of Polish language development.