Observational study of population level disparities in food costs in 2021 in Canada: A digital national nutritious food basket (dNNFB)

The aim of this work was to assess the feasibility and effect of applying a nationally representative and highly disaggregated food costing measure across Canada, through the novel application of web-scraping technology to the methods of the National Nutritious Food Basket (NNFB). Further, this study tested the hypothesis that a product-matched digital NNFB (dNNFB) correlates with existing market basket measures and quantified any differences in costs. This was an observational cross-sectional study using web scraped food price data collected in November 2021. Food price data was collected from the majority of Loblaw's banners across Canada, resulting in a final store sample of 751 stores sourced from 11 retail banners. Stores were located across all five Statistics Canada regions, including all provinces and territories with the exception of Nunavut. Store-level dNNFB costs were computed, adjusted by age-sex group, and summarized by geographic region and banner. dNNFB costs were then compared with existing national statistics office estimates (Market Basket Measure thresholds for reference families). dNNFB costs varied widely across the country, with notable differences by regional, store-level, and age-sex group characteristics. When compared to reported national statistics, our estimates exceeded the national market basket measure in every comparison in corresponding sub-national geography across the country, with correlation varying from 0.49 to 0.78 dependent on summary comparator. Digital collection of food price data was a feasible strategy for market basket costing. Our findings suggest we may be routinely underestimating the impact of food inflation for consumers, particularly those restricted to certain food environments.

Are the price patterns of cardioprotective vs. unhealthy foods the same? A report from Iran

BACKGROUND

Although several studies have assessed the price of different food groups in developed countries, there is scarce evidence regarding developing countries. Also, there is no report regarding the price of cardioprotective compared with unhealthy foods. The aim of this study was to determine the trend of food cost across different food groups (cardioprotective vs. unhealthy) and to assess the association between food cost and nutritional quality of foods in Iran.

METHODS

A list of foods consumed frequently by Iranian population was provided. Nutritional quality of foods was assessed by energy density and nutrient rich foods (NRF) index. Food groups were defined according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) MyPlate food groups. The price of food groups was reported as kcal/price and price/serving.

RESULTS

Although a positive association between different types of nutrient rich foods, nutrient content of foods and food price was observed, there was an inverse relationship between food price and energy density. The kcal/price of "oils" was less than "whole grains" and "refined grains". "Sugar, sweets and beverages" and "beans and legumes" food groups had equal kcal/price media. Among healthy foods for cardiovascular system, nuts had the highest price/serving. On the other hand, among unhealthy foods for cardiovascular system, processed meat had the highest price/serving. The price/serving of healthy oils was similar to saturated and trans fatty acids rich oils. Also, the price/serving of low-fat (healthy) vs. high fat (unhealthy) dairy was not different. Similar finding was observed for white meat vs. red meat.

CONCLUSION

Our findings revealed that the pattern of food price in Iran is different from developed countries. Also, we found that Iranians can consume a cardioprotective diet without any economic pressure.