Grant: Project Grant

Food policies to help Canadians limit their intakes of "less healthy" nutrients, like the Sodium Reduction Strategy, will soon be joined by a set of policies, the Healthy Eating Strategy, that aim to improve overall diets of Canadians. It is possible, however, that introducing these policies may lead to higher food prices, which is especially important for consumers with lower incomes. The goal of this research is to determine how food price relates to food healthfulness, the introduction of food policies, and consumer purchases. Four studies will be conducted. Study 1 will examine the relationship between food price and healthfulness (i.e. the level of "less healthy" nutrients and overall "healthfulness"). This study will use food price and nutrient information from our database of food and beverage labels (FLIP) collected in 2017. Study 2 will compare the price of foods that have lower sodium levels and meet the Sodium Reduction Strategy targets with those that have higher sodium levels. Study 3 will evaluate the price of foods before, in-between, and after the Healthy Eating Strategy is in force. Study 2 and 3 will use FLIP collections from 2017, 2020, and 2023. Study 4 will determine how consumer food purchases differ over time for the foods found to be more expensive in Studies 3, especially by low income households. This will be done using a representative database of Canadian household food purchases. We think the relationship between food price and healthfulness will be different for each food category, but in general, healthier foods will be more expensive. Also, foods with nutrient levels that changed in response to food policies will be more expensive and purchased less often than foods that stayed the same. This research will help us better understand how food price and healthfulness are related. It will also provide information to help improve food policies to ensure that regardless of income, all Canadians can benefit.