Racial/Ethnic Disparities in the Fat, Sugar, and Salt Content of Store‐Bought Foods Consumed by Americans: A Novel Approach Using Population‐Specific Food Composition Data
Authors: Poti Jennifer M , Yoon Emily , Hollingsworth Bridget , Ostrowski Jessica , Wandell Julie , Miles Donna R , Popkin Barry M 
Published: November 2023

Background

Despite well‐documented racial and ethnic disparities in dietary intake among Americans, most studies examine diet inequalities using only a single standard food composition table (FCT) for all populations. Further, although the majority of Americans' energy intake comes from grocery stores, racial/ethnic disparities in the nutrient content of dietary intake from stores have not been examined.

Objective

We aimed to determine whether the fat, sugar, and sodium content of store‐bought foods consumed by Americans differ by race/ethnicity and whether disparities are underestimated using a single standard food composition table compared with using population‐specific food composition data based on the brands and products that each racial/ethnic group buys at the grocery store.

Methods

This study used 24‐hour dietary recall data for a nationally representative US sample of 23,062 children and adults from the 2007–2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). We developed a separate FCT for each racial/ethnic group by first linking Nutrition Facts Panel data from barcoded foods (168,077 to 193,195 per survey) to codes for packaged foods consumed from stores by NHANES participants. We then determined sales‐weighted mean nutrient content for each food reported in NHANES, with weighting derived from food purchases by all households (standard FCT) or by non‐Hispanic (NH) white, NH black, or Hispanic households (3 population‐specific FCTs) in the nationwide Nielsen Homescan Consumer Panel. Survey‐weighted mean nutrient content per 100g for total intake from stores and for store‐bought foods (excluding beverages) were determined for each racial/ethnic group using the standard FCT and population‐specific FCTs.

Results

The nutrient content of dietary intake from stores was significantly higher for NH blacks compared with NH whites for total fat (+11.3%), saturated fat (+6.6%), sugar (+14.5%), and sodium (+9.6%) content per 100g. Store‐bought foods consumed by NH blacks were significantly higher in total fat (+9.4%), saturated fat (+4.7%), and sodium (+7.8%) content compared with foods consumed by NH whites. However, total fat and saturated fat content of dietary intake from stores was significantly lower (−5.9% and −5.5%, respectively) for Hispanics compared with NH whites. Store‐bought foods consumed by Hispanics were significantly lower in total fat (−9.8%), saturated fat (−12.8%), sugar (−17.2%), and sodium (−4.7%) content compared with foods consumed by NH whites. Black‐white disparities in total fat and sugar content were significantly underestimated (P<0.01) and Hispanic‐white disparities in total fat and saturated fat content were significantly overestimated (P<0.01) using standard compared with population‐specific food composition data.

Conclusions

In our study, the nutrient profile of dietary intake from stores was less healthful for NH blacks and more healthful for Hispanics compared with NH whites. Our findings suggest that population‐specific food composition data may enhance the accuracy of estimated racial/ethnic dietary disparities.

Support or Funding Information

This work was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (67506, 68793, 70017, 71837), NIH (R01DK098072, DK56350) and the Carolina Population Center and its NIH center grant (P2C HD050924).