70% of food and drink within reach is unhealthy

We all know it: standing in line at a store’s checkout, surrounded by tempting snacks and drinks. Navigating the checkout line looking for healthy options can be a challenge, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis, who found that 70% of food and drink at checkout is unhealthy.

For snack-sized options, an even higher percentage was unhealthy: 89%.

A study published this month in the journal Current developments in nutrition suggests that most food and drink options at checkout are candy (31%), sugar-sweetened drinks (11%), salty snacks (9%), and sweets (6%).

Healthy items were much less common. Water represented 3% of food and drink options, followed by nuts and seeds (2%), fruits and vegetables (1%), legumes (0.1%) and milk (0.02%).

Food and beverage companies view the checkout line as prime real estate for their products, said Jennifer Falbe, an associate professor in the Department of Human Ecology and lead author of the study. The checkout is the one place in a store that every shopper has to go through, and it’s known to contribute to impulse buying, she said.

“The checkout is designed this way through marketing agreements where food and beverage companies pay stores to place their products — which are usually unhealthy — at the checkout,” Falbe said.

Researchers analyzed checkout lines at 102 food stores in Davis, Sacramento, Oakland and Berkeley. Stores included supermarkets, supermarkets, specialty stores, drugstores, dollar stores, and mass merchandisers.

The review was conducted in February 2021, just before an ordinance went into effect in the city of Berkeley requiring major food stores to offer more nutritious offerings at the checkout counter. Berkeley became the first city in the US to implement a healthy checkout policy.

Falbe said Berkeley’s policy is consistent with federal dietary guidelines that emphasize consuming nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds and reducing sodium and added sugars.

“The majority of the U.S. population exceeds daily recommended limits for added sugars and sodium intake,” Falbe said. Berkeley’s checkout policy allows certain food and beverage categories at checkout (e.g., unsweetened beverages, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and dairy products) and sets limits on the amount of added sugar and sodium in a product at checkout. Shoppers can still pick up candy from the candy aisle, but it won’t be forced on them at checkout.”

The study used Berkeley’s policies as a yardstick to help measure the healthiness of products at the checkout. The researchers found that the percentage of food and beverage outlets that met healthy checkout standards was highest in chain specialty stores, supermarkets, and chain stores. It was lowest in chain stores and independent supermarkets, which are more common in underserved neighborhoods.

Checkout areas can strongly influence consumer choices. Falbe said she hopes these findings can be used to help improve the food environment for people in all neighborhoods.

“There’s an opportunity here for checkouts to provide more choice by expanding access to healthier options,” Falbe said. “Currently, consumers lack choices at the checkout.”

The study’s contributing authors are Ethan Wolf and Sarah Solar of UC Davis Department of Human Ecology, and researchers from the University of Illinois, Chicago.