Convenience foods were an important part of households' food baskets which in some cases led to lower nutritional quality. Therefore, it is important to offer convenience foods higher in nutrient density and lower in energy density. Interventions targeted on enhancing cooking skills could be an effective strategy to increase purchases of unprocessed foods, which, in turn, could also contribute to an improved diet quality.

BackgroundEmpirically derived food purchase patterns provide information about which combinations of foods were purchased from households. The objective of this study was to identify what kinds of patterns exist, which level of diet quality they represent and which factors are associated with the patterns.MethodsThe study made use of representative German consumption data in which approximately 12 million food purchases from 13,125 households are recorded. In accordance with healthy diet criteria the food purchases were assigned to 18 food groups of the German Food Pyramid. Based on these groups a factor analysis with a principal component technique was applied to identify food patterns. For these patterns nutrient and energy densities were examined. Using regression analysis, associations between pattern scores and socio-economic as well as attitude variables, reflecting personal statements about healthy eating, were analyzed.ResultsIn total, three food purchase patterns could be identified: a natural, a processed and a traditional one. The first one was characterized by a higher purchasing of natural foods, the second by an increased purchasing of processed foods and the third by a meat-oriented diet. In each pattern there were specific diet quality criteria that could be improved whereas others were in line with actual dietary guidelines. In addition to socio-demographic factors, attitudes were significantly associated with the purchase patterns.ConclusionsThe findings of this study are interesting from a public health perspective, as it can be assumed that measures focusing on specific aspects of diet quality are more promising than general ones. However, it is a major challenge to identify the population groups with their specific needs of improvement. As the patterns were associated with both socio-economic and attitude variables these grouping criteria could be used to define target groups.

The USDA Healthy Eating Index (HEI) is used widely to measure diet quality because it allows a number of different applications. Although several evaluations of the HEI-2010 have already been carried out, there is lack of those which focus on associations between the HEI and nutrient intakes. This study updates and expands upon previous findings on these associations. Using German consumption data, where ∼12 million purchases from 13 131 households are recorded, HEI-2010 total and individual scores, as well as several energy and nutrient densities were calculated. Correlations between the HEI and individual energy and nutrient densities were carried out to identify which nutrients are more or less well represented by the HEI. The HEI had the highest correlations with energy density and the densities of water-soluble vitamins (e.g. folic acid) and minerals (e.g. calcium). Weaker associations were identified for the densities of fat-soluble vitamins (e.g. vitamin D) as well as of the vitamins B1 and B12. Negligible correlations were detected for the densities of trace elements (e.g. fluoride and iodine), salt and fat composition. Given that energy intake and the intake of plant-based foods are relevant dietary issues, the HEI-2010 can be defined as a meaningful index to describe diet quality. However, because the intakes of salt, trace elements (e.g. fluoride and iodine) and fat-soluble vitamins, as well as the fat composition may be less reflected, they should be analyzed separately when using the HEI for measuring diet quality.

This paper presents price and income elasticities of food demand for Germany. Using disaggregated household scanner data and the Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS). The QUAIDS is modified to account for censoring and include household demographics. Furthermore, a two-stage budgeting approach is used to more accurately reflect households’ purchasing behaviour. Having disaggregated data also allowed to include convenience aspects into the demand system. High expenditure elasticities are found for fruits and nuts and meat, fish and eggs. The highest own-price elasticity is found for beverages. At the second stage, the bread toppings group reveals new insights into demand relations between cold cuts, cheese and other spreads. Cold cuts have both the highest expenditure and own-price elasticity. Cross-price elasticities indicate mostly complementary relations between cold cuts and other bread toppings. Comparing different income groups shows that expenditure elasticities of raw foods or basic ingredient foods tend to decrease as income increases, whereas expenditure elasticities of foods that require minimal or no preparation tend to increase with income. In conclusion, this study stresses the need for regularly updated elasticities of food demand that reflect up-to-date consumption behavior.