Consumer taste tests and milk preference in low-income, urban supermarkets

Barriers to and Facilitators of the Consumption of Animal-Based Protein-Rich Foods in Older Adults: Re-Analysis with a Focus on Sustainability

Older adults may gain health benefits from the consumption of animal-based protein-rich foods, but environmental pressures suggest advocating some meat and dairy foods over others, and understanding the barriers and facilitators for consuming these different foods would be of value. Existing data on the barriers to and facilitators of the consumption of meat and dairy products were re-analysed for differing effects for white, red, and processed meat consumption and for yoghurt, soft cheese, and hard cheese consumption. White meat consumption was associated with fewer concerns over spoilage and waste and stronger perceptions that meat is convenient (smallest Beta = 0.135, p = 0.01), while red and processed meat consumption were positively associated with liking /taste, appearance, and convenience (smallest Beta = 0.117, p = 0.03). Yoghurt and soft cheese consumption were positively associated with liking/taste and medical concerns, and fewer concerns over ability and habit (smallest Beta = -0.111, p = 0.05), while hard cheese consumption was only associated with liking/taste (Beta = 0.153, p = 0.01). Taken together, these data suggest that enhancing or promoting the enjoyment, taste, visual appeal, and ease-of-consumption of the more sustainable meat and dairy options may be of value in encouraging the consumption of these foods in older adults.

Encouraging Healthier Food and Beverage Purchasing and Consumption: A Review of Interventions within Grocery Retail Settings

This review identifies the most promising intervention strategies for promoting the purchase and consumption of healthier items within U.S. grocery retail settings, with a particular focus on those strategies that may be most effective when implemented within SNAP-authorized retail settings. Searches of nine electronic databases, as well as forward and backward searches, yielded 1942 studies. After being screened, 73 peer-reviewed academic articles were identified for inclusion. Of these, 33 analyzed single-component interventions, while 40 assessed multi-component interventions. The following unique intervention types were considered as evaluated in these studies for their ability to increase healthy item purchasing and consumption: (1) nutrition scoring, (2) nutritional messaging, (3) non-nutritional messaging, (4) endcaps and secondary placement, (5) point-of-sale interventions, (6) increased stocking, (7) food tasting and demonstrations, (8) nutrition education, and (9) placement on shelf interventions. Nutritional scoring and nutritional messaging emerged as the most rigorously tested and effective intervention strategies. Other strategies warrant more research attention. Simple intervention strategies, as opposed to complex ones, yield the most successful results and minimize shopper burden. Therefore, these strategies should be reviewed for policy implementation within SNAP-authorized grocery retailers.

Consumers' Ability to Distinguish Between Milk Types: Results of Blind Taste Testing

The objective of this study was to assess consumers' ability to correctly identify different types of milk in a blind taste test and correlates of plans to purchase lower fat milk. Adults from 8 supermarkets in low-income neighborhoods tasted 3 types of unlabeled lower fat or fat-free milk samples and guessed the type of each sample. Of the 1074 participants, only 7.6% were able to identify all 3 unlabeled samples correctly. Most adults in this study reported consuming higher fat milk and could not correctly identify milk type by taste alone. Blind taste tests may encourage consumers to drink lower fat milk.

The healthy food marketing strategies study: design, baseline characteristics, and supermarket compliance

Identifying effective strategies to promote healthy eating and reduce obesity is a priority in the USA, especially among low-income and minority groups, who often have less access to healthy food and higher rates of obesity. Efforts to improve food access have led to more supermarkets in low-income, ethnically diverse neighborhoods. However, this alone may not be enough to reduce food insecurity and improve residents' diet quality and health. This paper summarizes the design, methods, baseline findings, and supermarket in-store marketing strategy compliance for a randomized trial of the impact of healthy food marketing on the purchase of healthier "target" food items. Thirty-three supermarkets in low-income, high-minority neighborhoods in the metropolitan Philadelphia area were matched on store size and percentage of sales from government food assistance programs and randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. Healthy marketing strategies, including increased availability of healthier "target" products, prime shelf-placement and call-out promotion signs, and reduced availability of regular "comparison" products, were implemented in 16 intervention stores for an 18 month period for over 100 individual food items. Six product categories were studied: bread, checkout cooler beverages, cheese, frozen dinners, milk, and salty snacks. The primary outcome measure was weekly sales per store in each product category for 1 year preintervention and 18 months during the intervention. Compliance with the marketing strategies was assessed twice per month for the first 6 months and once a month thereafter. Store and neighborhood characteristics were not significantly different between control and intervention stores. Intercept surveys with customers to assess shopping habits and grocery marketing environment assessments to examine the food promotion environment were completed in the same six food categories. In intercept surveys, 51.0% of shoppers self-identified as overweight and 60.6% wanted to change their weight. Shoppers who typically purchased one type of food over another commonly did so out of habit or because the item was on sale. Findings revealed that preintervention sales of healthier "target" or regular "comparison" items did not differ between intervention and control stores for 1 year prior to intervention implementation. Rates of compliance with the healthy marketing strategies were high, averaging 76.5% over the first 12 months in all 16 stores. If healthy in-store marketing interventions are effective in this scaled-up, longer-term study, they should be translated into wider use in community supermarkets.

Improving Consumption and Purchases of Healthier Foods in Retail Environments: A Systematic Review

This review examines current research on manipulations of U.S. food retail environments to promote healthier food purchasing and consumption. Studies reviewed use marketing strategies defined as the 4Ps (product, price, placement, promotion) to examine results based on single- and multi-component interventions by study design, outcome, and which of the “Ps” was targeted. Nine electronic databases were searched for publications from 2010 to 2019, followed by forward and backward searches. Studies were included if the intervention was initiated by a researcher or retailer, conducted in-store, and manipulated the retail environment. Of the unique 596 studies initially identified, 64 studies met inclusion criteria. Findings show that 56 studies had at least one positive effect related to healthier food consumption or purchasing. Thirty studies used single-component interventions, while 34 were multi-component. Promotion was the most commonly utilized marketing strategy, while manipulating promotion, placement, and product was the most common for multi-component interventions. Only 14 of the 64 studies were experimental and included objective outcome data. Future research should emphasize rigorous designs and objective outcomes. Research is also needed to understand individual and additive effects of multi-component interventions on sales outcomes, substitution effects of healthy food purchases, and sustainability of impacts.

Barriers to and Facilitators of the Consumption of Animal-Based Protein-Rich Foods in Older Adults

Protein intakes in the older population can be lower than recommended for good health, and while reasons for low protein intakes can be provided, little work has attempted to investigate these reasons in relation to actual intakes, and so identify those of likely greatest impact when designing interventions. Questionnaires assessing: usual consumption of meat, fish, eggs and dairy products; agreement/disagreement with reasons for the consumption/non-consumption of these foods; and several demographic and lifestyle characteristics; were sent to 1000 UK community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and over. In total, 351 returned questionnaires, representative of the UK older population for gender and age, were suitable for analysis. Different factors were important for consumption of the four food groups, but similarities were also found. These similarities likely reflect issues of particular concern to both the consumption of animal-based protein-rich foods and the consumption of these foods by older adults. Taken together, these findings suggest intakes to be explained by, and thus that strategies for increasing consumption should focus on: increasing liking/tastiness; improving convenience and the effort required for food preparation and consumption; minimizing spoilage and wastage; and improving perceptions of affordability or value for money; freshness; and the healthiness of protein-rich foods.

Disparities in the Availability and Price of Low-Fat and Higher-Fat Milk in US Food Stores by Community Characteristics

BACKGROUND

National surveillance data identify disparities in low-fat milk consumption by race/ethnicity and income. Some localized studies have shown disparities in access to low-fat milk by community characteristics.

OBJECTIVE

Our aim was to assess the availability and price of low-fat and higher-fat milk in food stores throughout the United States and examine associations with community characteristics.

DESIGN

We conducted a cross-sectional study involving observational data collection in 2010, 2011, and 2012.

PARTICIPANTS/SETTINGS

The study included 8,959 food stores in 468 communities where nationally representative samples of students attending traditional public middle and high schools resided.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

We studied the availability and price of whole, 2%, 1%, and skim milk.

STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED

Multivariate logistic regression and ordinary least squares regression analyses were performed. Models included store type, race/ethnicity, median household income, urbanicity, US Census division, and year of data collection.

RESULTS

Less than half of all stores carried 1% and skim milk, and more than three-quarters of stores carried whole and 2% milk. Regression results indicated that the odds of carrying any type of milk were 31% to 67% lower in stores in majority black and 26% to 45% lower in other/mixed race compared with majority white communities. The odds of carrying specifically low-fat milk were 50% to 58% lower in majority Hispanic compared with majority white communities, and 32% to 44% lower in low-income compared with high-income communities. Some significant differences in milk prices by community characteristics were observed in grocery and limited-service stores. On average, low-fat milk options were more expensive in grocery stores in majority black and rural and suburban communities compared with such stores in majority white and urban communities.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first nationwide study to examine the availability and price of low-fat and higher-fat milk in food stores and show disparities in access by community characteristics. Policies and programs can play a role in increasing accessibility of low-fat milk in stores in nonwhite and low-income communities.