Quantifying the Availability of Hyper-Palatable Foods in US Food Stores and Household Purchasing Behavior

OBJECTIVE: Hyper-palatable foods (HPF) have strong reinforcing properties, and their presence in food stores may skew purchasing toward HPF, even when healthier foods are available. However, the availability of HPF in US food stores is unknown. The study aims were to 1) quantify the prevalence of HPF in US stores; 2) characterize US household expenditures on HPF per shopping occasion; and 3) examine demographic and health characteristics associated with HPF purchasing. DESIGN: Proprietary scanner data representing 1) foods available and sold in US food stores, and 2) foods purchased during US household shopping occasions, were analyzed across four years (2015-2018). SETTING: n/a. PARTICIPANTS: US food stores (>34900 per year) provided weekly data on all foods/beverages available and sold. Samples of US households (>45000 per year) used scanners to report all food/beverage purchases during their shopping occasions. RESULTS: Across years, HPF comprised over two-thirds of foods available per store (M=67.1%; SD = 6.9) and of weekly sales (M= 70.4%; SD = 9.0). HPF comprised the majority of foods purchased by households (M=59.4%; SD = 34.6) and on average accounted 60.3% of household food expenditures (SD= 35.7) per shopping occasion. Health risk characteristics including self-reported type 2 diabetes diagnosis and self-reported obesity diagnosis were associated with significantly higher proportionate expenditures on HPF, relative to those without such diagnoses (beta values = 1.412 to 1.584; p values < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: HPF comprised >65% of available foods in US food outlets. Household purchasing of HPF during shopping occasions closely paralleled HPF availability in stores.