Article summarizing research done by the USDA’s Economic Research Service on USDA recommended Dietary Guidelines:
Americans’ Food Choices at Home and Away: How Do They Compare With Recommendations?
The Highlights summarize this research:
-Grocery purchase data reveal that consumers underspend on fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and overspend on refined grains, fats, and sugars/sweets, compared with USDA food plan recommendations, a pattern that showed little change from 1998 to 2006.
-Food consumption data point to an even bigger challenge to improving diet quality: away-from-home foods now account for one-third of daily caloric intake, and they are not as healthful as at-home foods.
-New Government and private industry initiatives to make food labels and point-of-purchase information more relevant, understandable, and motivating may help consumers choose more healthful foods.
Sample data from the article about this research:
