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Evolution of nutritional quality in the US: Evidence from the ready-to-eat cereal industry

Author

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  • Wang, Emily
  • Rojas, Christian
  • Bauner, Christoph

Abstract

We construct historical nutrition quality indices for the ready-to-eat cereal industry and find that: (1) there exists a discrepancy between the nutrition quality of available products and that of the actual intake, (2) nutrition quality declined between 1988 and 2001 but has been increasing since then (although levels are still lower than in 1988), and (3) the decline in nutritional quality intake cannot be attributed to pricier or a limited availability of healthier options.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Emily & Rojas, Christian & Bauner, Christoph, 2015. "Evolution of nutritional quality in the US: Evidence from the ready-to-eat cereal industry," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 105-108.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:133:y:2015:i:c:p:105-108
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2015.05.021
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Pierre Dubois & Rachel Griffith & Aviv Nevo, 2014. "Do Prices and Attributes Explain International Differences in Food Purchases?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(3), pages 832-867, March.
    2. Monsivais, Pablo & Mclain, Julia & Drewnowski, Adam, 2010. "The rising disparity in the price of healthful foods: 2004-2008," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 514-520, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Martinez, Stephen & Taylor, Christopher A. & Hooker, Neal H., "undated". "Measuring the Potential Impact of New and Reformulated Bread and Breakfast Cereal Products on Nutrient Intakes," USDA Miscellaneous 312956, United States Department of Agriculture.
    2. Jing Li & Edward C. Jaenicke & Tobenna D. Anekwe & Alessandro Bonanno, 2018. "Demand for ready‐to‐eat cereals with household‐level censored purchase data and nutrition label information: A distance metric approach," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(4), pages 687-713, October.
    3. Zhu, Chen & Lopez, Rigoberto A. & Liu, Xiaoou, 2019. "Consumer responses to front-of-package labeling in the presence of information spillovers," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1-1.
    4. Liu, Xiaoou & Lopez, Rigoberto & Zhu, Chen, 2015. "Can Voluntary Nutrition Labeling Lead to a Healthier Food Market?," 2016 Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) Annual Meeting, January 3-5, 2016, San Francisco, California 212818, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Ezgi Cengiz & Christian Rojas, 2024. "Are food manufacturers reducing sugar content? Evidence from scanner data," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(3), pages 571-595, July.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior

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