The Association Between Nutrition Information Use and the Healthfulness of Food Acquisitions

Eliana Zeballos and Tobenna D. Anekwe

No 276241, Economic Research Report from United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

Abstract: Consumers have access to a variety of sources of nutrition information, including the Nutrition Facts label on packaged foods, USDA’s MyPlate food guidance for healthy eating, and the posting of nutrition information in restaurants. This study uses unique data from USDA’s 2012-13 National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS) to explore the correlation between consumers’ use of nutrition information and the healthfulness of their food choices. Healthfulness of food purchases is assessed by conformance with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans as measured by the 2010 Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2010). Results show that the HEI-2010 score is positively associated with nutrition information use. This positive correlation between nutrition information use and HEI-2010 also holds within each of the three categories of household participation in USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (participant, low-income nonparticipant, and high-income nonparticipant). Examining the influence of nutrition information use separately on food-at-home and food-away-from-home purchases shows that the food-at-home HEI-2010 score is positively correlated with more nutrition information use while the food-away-from-home HEI-2010 score is not correlated with more nutrition information use.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-04
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:uersrr:276241

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.276241

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