ERSReport Summary

ERSReport Summary

ERSReport Summary

ERSReport Summary

www.ers.usda.gov

ERS is a primary source 

of economic research and 

analysis from the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, 

providing timely information on economic and policy 

issues related to agriculture, 

food, the environment,and 

rural America.

This is a summary 

of an ERS report.

Find the full report at 

www.ers.usda.gov/

publications/eibeconomic-informationbulletin/eib102.aspx

Economic Research Service November 2012 U.S. Department of Agriculture

What Is the Issue?

Nutritionists, healthcare providers, and policymakers seek solutions to the ongoing proliferation of 

obesity, overweight, and other health-related concerns that can be linked, in part, to diet quality. 

Some recent studies have illustrated the deleterious effects of food away from home (FAFH) on 

Americans’ diets, but food choices made by consumers when grocery shopping may also affect 

diet quality. This report measures the extent to which U.S. consumers are adhering to the Dietary 

Guidelines for Americans (DGA) with their food-at-home (FAH) purchases and the role of selected 

demographic and market factors on food purchase healthfulness. 

What Did the Study Find?

Overall, Americans have a long way to go in conforming to dietary guidelines with their FAH 

purchases. Very few households meet the guidelines when food shopping. 

•	Consumers purchase too few fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and too many refined grains,

fats, and added sugars.

•	The average 2005 Healthy Eating Index score for food-at-home purchases was 56.4, far below

the maximum score of 100, which would indicate perfect adherence to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines.

•	The healthfulness of the average consumer food shopping basket did not improve noticeably

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.

Although food purchase behavior varies across some demographic and market segments, all 

subgroups fall short of meeting the Guidelines:

•	When comparing consumers across regions of the country, those in the Northeast and West

typically purchase more healthful food than consumers in the Midwest or South.

•	Higher income shoppers, on average, purchase slightly more healthful food than do lower income shoppers. 

Assessing the Healthfulness of 

Consumers’ Grocery Purchases

Richard Volpe and Abigail Okrent

United States 

Department of

Agriculture

Economic

Research

Service

Economic

Information

Bulletin

Number 102

November 2012

Assessing the Healthfulness

of Consumers’ Grocery 

Purchases

Richard Volpe and Abigail Okrent
www.ers.usda.gov

•	In terms of differences across races, Whites and Asians typically purchase more healthful foods than Blacks and other

non-Asian minorities.

•	Market concentration, defined by the number and size of retailers within a market, has a very small negative effect on

the healthfulness of consumers’ food purchases.

How Was the Study Conducted?

This study uses self-reported purchase data from the Nielsen Homescan database for the years 1998 through 2006.

To facilitate the analysis of a data set featuring millions of purchase records, we use aggregate categories from the 

Quarterly Food-at-Home Price Database, which organizes the Homescan data into major food groups. Our healthfulness

measures rely upon the Liberal Food Plan recommendations from the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion

as well as the USDA 2005 Healthy Eating Index.