(P28-003-24) Trends in Food Expenditure and Healthy Eating in Canada 2010–2019

Objectives: Canadian households continue to allocate a large portion of their income to food purchases. Food choices and spending habits reflect the broader economic, nutritional, and social patterns. However, few studies have explored the amount that Canadian households spend on healthy foods that align with Canada’s new nutritional guidelines. This study aims to characterize the economic and nutritional costs of healthy eating in Canada.

Methods: Grocery food expenditures were analysed using the Survey of Household Spending (SHS) 2010-2019. We linked SHS to the Food Label Information and Price (FLIP) database, a machine learning enhanced food composition and price database of prepackaged branded foods and beverages ( >120,000 products) from top Canadian food retailers. Food items on the SHS datasets were cross-referenced and validated with the National Nutritious Food Basket (NNFB) list, which includes around 60 nutritious foods that align with Canada’s Food Guide, to characterize healthy food purchases. Food items were further categorized by the NOVA classification system to highlight ultra-processed food (UPF) purchases. We evaluated trends in food expenditure and healthy eating across different household income levels and geographic locations.

Results: The allocation of grocery spending on specific food categories from 2010 to 2019 remained relatively stable, while estimated overall nutrition quality improved, indicated by increased NNFB and decreased UPFs proportions. Lower-income groups has relatively higher UPFs and lower NNFB expenditure ratio than mid- and high- income groups. Provincial level and census metropolitan area (CMA) and census agglomeration (CA) level participants in areas with relatively lower NNFB expenditure ratios had a higher UPFs expenditure ratio.

Conclusions: Although Canadian households are spending a considerable amount on foods aligned with the National Nutritious Food Basket, the simultaneous high expenditure on ultra-processed foods is concerning. This study highlighted the need for comprehensive population-level strategies to further promote healthy eating initiatives and policies.

Funding Sources: Canadian Institutes of Health Research