(P08-012-24) Unprocessed, but SAD: A Standard American Diet Made With Less-Processed Foods Is Still a Standard American Diet

Objectives: The “clean eating” trend of consuming primarily foods with simple ingredients suggests that consuming fewer processed foods is a requisite aspect of healthy dietary patterns. Yet research indicates that a menu containing mostly ultra-processed foods (UPFs) can meet nutrient and diet quality recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Whether a diet comprised mostly of simple ingredient foods can provide a low-quality diet remains unexplored. The objective of this study was to compare the diet quality, shelf stability, and cost of two similar Western-style menus, one containing primarily energy from UPFs and the other containing primarily energy from less processed foods, as defined by the Nova food classification system.

Methods: First, a less-processed version of a Western menu (less-processed Western, LPW; more-processed Western MPW) with a Healthy Eating Index (HEI) score of approximately 43 was developed to align with the HEI score of the previously developed MPW. Processing level was determined by Nova categorizations assigned by external graders. The final menu was assessed for nutrient content and HEI score. Shelf stability of foods was determined with information from food storage guidance manuals. The condition of each food item when purchased (shelf stable, frozen, refrigerated) was used to estimate the number of days until expiration. Food and menu costs were determined using retail prices at a Midwestern grocery chain in Fall 2023.

Results: The LPW and MPW had similar nutrient densities and HEI scores (44 and 43, respectively). The LPW included 20% energy (kcal) from UPFs, while the MPW included 67% energy from UPFs. Relative percentages of shelf-stable, frozen, and refrigerated foods were similar between the two. Using the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis method, median time to expiration of the LPW menu items was 35 days versus 120 days for the MPW menu items. The “per person” cost was $34.87/day for the LPW and $13.53/day for the MPW.

Conclusions: The less-processed and more-processed menus both provided low-quality diets. However, the LPW was more than twice as expensive as the MPW and had a shorter overall shelf life. Level of processing is not a proxy indicator of diet quality, and less processed foods can be more expensive and have a shorter shelf life.

Funding Sources: USDA Agricultural Research Service project grant #3062-51000-057-00D