Health, Nutrition and the U.S. Food Chain: Trends and New Findings

1. Health, Nutrition and the U.S. Food Chain: Trends and New Findings OECD Food Chain Analysis Network Mobilizing the Food Chain for Health Oct 25-26, 2012 Jay Variyam, Branch Chief Food Economics Division Economic Research Service U.S. Department of Agriculture Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent the views of the ERS or the USDA

2. Consumers spend 10% on food

3. Where that 10% went…

4. Innovation: Convenience

5. Variety and choice Number of items carried by U.S. supermarkets

6. Consumers want … • Taste • Low price • Convenience • Safety • Quality • Nutrition • Variety • Eco/Green

7. Overarching trends • Changing channels of food distribution • Differentiation • New products to meet changing consumer demand

8. I. Nontraditional Retailers Entry into the Retail Food Market

9. I. Expenditure Shares for Nontraditional Retailers Continue to Rise Source: ERS Calculations using Nielsen Homescan Data

10. I. Wal-Mart Supercenters

11. II. Retail differentiation • Private label • Prepared foods • Fuel • Organic foods Retailers are also differentiating with expanded product offerings

12. Organic Food Sales

13. III. Meeting consumer demand

14. III. Meeting consumer demand New product introductions

15. Recent Findings • Affordability of Healthy Foods • Access to Healthy Foods • Healthfulness of Purchases and Consumption • Response to Information/Labeling

16. New Results: Affordability • Are healthy foods more expensive? • Yes, if measured on per calorie basis • No, if measured on the basis of edible weight or average portion size • In terms of the cost of meeting dietary recommendations, it is less expensive to meet the grains, dairy, and fruits recommendations than the vegetables or protein grp recommen. • http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib-economic-information-bulletin/eib96.aspx

17. Affordability • Can low-income Americans afford meeting fruit and vegetables guidelines? • Stewart et al., Jrl of Nutrition Education & Behavior, 2012 Best Article • Costs per cup-equivalent of fruits and vegetables, including whole and cut fruit, fruit juice, dark green vegetables, orange vegetables, legumes, and others

18. Affordability • In 2008, a variety of fruits and vegetables was available for an average cost of $0.40 to $0.50 per cup-equivalent • Low-income Americans facing national average prices can satisfy fruit and vegetable guidelines with a standard budget

19. Access • Hypothesized relationship between access to affordable & nutritious food and diet quality and obesity • ERS “Food Deserts” project, 2009 • Major update based on new data to be released: Report in November and on-line map in December

20. Access: 2010 Data • 27.9 million (9.7%) people live in low-income areas more than 1 mile from a supermarket (2010) • 2.1 million (1.8%) households live more than 1 mile from store and do not have a vehicle • 35.6 million (11.6%) low-income individuals live more than 1 mile from store

21. Access • Multiple measures: • Area based • Individual-level • Self-reported access • Time traveling to grocery store • 19.5 minutes in low-income/low access areas vs. 15.5 minutes in low-income/high access areas (ERS analysis of American Time Use Survey)

22. Healthfulness of Consumption

23. Healthfulness of Purchases • What is the extent to which U.S. consumers are adhering to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) with their food-at-home (FAH) purchases? • Nielsen Homescan panel data • 1998-2006 • Healthfulness measured based on USDA’s 2005 Healthy Eating Index

24. Healthfulness of Purchases • Consumers purchase too few fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and too many refined grains, fats, and added sugars (compared to DGA) • Healthfulness of the average food shopping basket did not improve between 1998 and 2006 • Households shifted from refined grains toward whole grains, but allocate less of their food budgets to fruits and vegetables and more toward processed and packaged foods

25. Information/Labeling • The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) recommended that half of all grains consumed be whole grains • A comparison of grocery store bread purchases before and after the release of the 2005 DGA • Quantity of whole-grain bread purchased rose 70 percent, while refined-grain bread purchases fell 13 percent

26. Information/Labeling • Whole-grain prices fell relative to price of refined-grain bread • After accounting for price changes and other factors, the 2005 Guidelines appear to have encouraged Americans to reduce purchases of refined-grain breads by 3 percent and increase purchases of whole grain bread by 14 percent

27. Information/Labeling • Transfat labeling enforced in 2006 • How did it affect reformulation? • ERS examined new product introductions data 2005-2010 • Most new food products do not contain trans fats • Transfat content has been falling across all product groups

28. Transfats

29. Transfats • New products without trans fats are likely to be lower in calories, sodium, and saturated fats than those containing trans fats. This suggests that food companies generally are not substituting these less healthy nutrients for trans fats when reformulating products to contain no trans fats

30. Assessing Food Access and Food Environment : Tools • Food Desert Locator: • http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-desert-locator.aspx • Food Environment Atlas: • http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-environment-atlas.aspx