A pilot study of grocery store sales: do low prices=high nutritional quality?

Purpose – Low fruit and vegetable intake is associated with heart disease, some cancers, and other major causes of death. Product pricing influences food purchases and economic declines have affected food budgets; therefore, this study examined the nutritional quality of advertised meal deals and buy-one-get-one free (BOGO) offers at three major grocery store chains over ten weeks. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – USDA's SuperTracker and Diet Analysis Plus were used for nutritional analyses of advertised offers over a ten-week time period in Fall 2011. Findings – Meal deal – ten-week averages per person: prices ranged from $1.25 to $5.00. Evaluation of MyPlate categories revealed the following percentage breakdown: empty calories – 57 percent, grains – 21 percent, protein – 12 percent, dairy – 8 percent, vegetables – 2 percent, and fruit – 0 percent. BOGO – ten-week averages: when examining MyPlate categories, nutritional quality was similar to meal deals in that few products were from the vegetable (12 percent) fruit (4 percent), and dairy (3 percent) groups. Originality/value – Research is sparse regarding nutritional quality of advertised sales at grocery stories.