(P22-067-24) Cost of Ultra-Processed Foods Consumed by US Adults Aged 20+ Years, 2017-2018

Objectives: Over half of the daily calories consumed by US adults came from ultra-processed foods (UPFs). The widespread availability of UPFs in the US market has been attributed to their low cost. However, the cost of UPFs has not been previously evaluated. We are interested in the comparison of the cost of UPFs and the cost of non-ultra-processed foods (non-UPFs).

Methods: By linking the dietary intake data collected using 24-hour diet recalls to the Purchase to Plate National Average Prices (PP-NAP) of foods purchased from grocery stores by US households, we estimated the cost ($ per 100 grams and $ per 100 kcal) of UPFs and non-UPFs, defined based on the Nova classification, among 4,669 US adults aged 20+ years who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2017-2018). All analyses were adjusted for sampling weights to account for the complex sampling design and survey nonresponses.

Results: Overall, UPFs had a higher mean (SE) cost per 100 grams ($0.50 ± 0.01 vs. $0.24 ± 0.01) but a lower mean cost per 100 kcal ($0.38 ± 0.02 vs. $0.60 ± 0.02) than non-UPFs. Among food subgroups, highly processed animal protein foods (fast-food or reconstituted meat, poultry or fish) had a higher mean cost than unprocessed animal protein foods (meat, poultry, fish, and eggs) in both per 100 grams ($0.85 ± 0.02 vs. $0.36 ± 0.01) and 100 kcal ($0.50 ± 0.02 vs. $0.22 ± 0.01). Similarly, highly processed dairy (flavored dairy foods) also had a higher mean cost than unprocessed dairy (milk and plain yogurt) in both per 100 grams ($0.34 ± 0.01 vs. $0.07 ± 0.003) and 100 kcal ($0.56 ± 0.02 vs. $0.12 ± 0.005). Highly processed starchy vegetables (fast-food or prepared potato products) had a higher mean cost than unprocessed starchy vegetables (roots and tubers) in both per 100 grams ($0.61 ± 0.06 vs. $0.12 ± 0.004) and per 100 kcal ($0.22 ± 0.02 vs. $0.20 ± 0.01). Industrially processed grains had a higher mean cost than unprocessed grains in both per 100 grams ($0.56 ± 0.02 vs. $0.18 ± 0.01) and per 100 kcal ($0.18 ± 0.004 vs. $0.12 ± 0.01).

Conclusions: UPFs are cheaper sources than non-UPFs (per 100 kcal) in the American’s diet. Highly processed animal protein foods, starchy vegetables, grains and dairy products obtain a higher cost than unprocessed ones.

Funding Sources: This work is supported by Gerald J. Friedman Fellows in Nutrition and Citizenship Scholarship from Tufts University.