Discounting fresh produce by 30% leads to higher healthy consumption, study finds

29 Nov 2023 --- A research team at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, US, observed the effects of 30%, 15% and 0% discounts on fruits, vegetables and non-caloric beverages on changes in dietary intake, which exerts a significant influence on health indicators such as body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, serum cholesterol and glucose. The main reason for conducting the study was to address the gap in dietary intake of fruits and vegetables.

“Addressing the cost barrier to healthy foods is crucial for accessibility. Our findings demonstrate that implementing discounts on healthy foods, such as vegetables, significantly promotes their consumption,” Aniema Nzesi, associate professor at the Friedman Brain Institute of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and one of the study’s authors, tells Nutrition Insight.

“We are currently exploring the impact of a 50% discount on health indicators in a study, undergoing the review process for publication.”

The scientists conducted a multi-level, randomized, controlled trial of primary household shoppers from several New York City supermarkets.

“Our findings that significant discounts on health foods can lead to an increase in consumption of these foods offer a suggestion for public health officials and policymakers to consider increasing access to nutritious foods and beverages,” says Dr. Alan Geliebter, senior author of the study and professor of psychiatry at Icahn Mount Sinai. He is also an expert in obesity, food intake and eating disorders. 

Produce subsidies
Previous research demonstrated that decisions to purchase specific food items are primarily based on taste and cost. In the US, only 12% and 10% of adults meet fruit and vegetable intake recommendations, respectively. 

“Many people cite cost as a factor that limits one’s access to healthy foods. Our research underscores that when discounts are used to subsidize the cost of these foods, individuals are inclined to consume more nutritious options,” explains Nzesi.Specific discounts on healthy fresh produce incentivize its increased consumption, researchers flag.

The research posits that the affordability of food items is a limiting factor for meeting fruit and vegetable intake guidelines. Affordable low-energy-dense foods like fruits and vegetables, which are more expensive than less healthy high-energy-dense foods, could increase intake.

“The results highlight a potential avenue for promoting healthier dietary intake behaviors and we hope this information will be used by policymakers to consider subsidizing fruits and vegetables via modification of the Farm Bill,” says Geliebter.

Research findings
Daily dietary recalls were conducted during the baseline period and before the intervention midpoint. In-person clinical measures such as body weight, percent body fat, blood pressure, fasting serum glucose, hemoglobin A1C and serum blood lipids were analyzed. 

The study results, published in PLoS One, showed that a 30% discount led to significantly increased consumption of vegetables and diet soda. The 15% discount group showed a non-significant increase in diet soda consumption but no variation for vegetables.

The discounts did not affect fruit intake during the initial study period. Diet soda intake was inversely correlated with regular soda intake for those who received the 30% discount on diet soda. There were no significant differences in the clinical measures, including body weight, relative to the discounts.

Meanwhile, a study using data from long-term research on brain development shows that higher BMI is associated with poor brain health in children, based on MRI scans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stresses that one in five American children is obese. 

By Inga de Jong