(OR14-07-22) Role of Food Processing, Cooking Fuel, and Time Use for Meal Preparation in Diet Costs and Affordability Across 177 Countries, 2011 and 2017

Objectives: Previous studies focused on the high cost of nutrient-dense foods and low cost of convenient ultra-processed foods. This study considers fuel and time costs of meal preparation, using nutritional criteria to distinguish healthy and unhealthy processing. We identify differences in retail prices by type of food processing, revealing how processing that preserves nutritional value can help reduce the total cost of healthy diets when accounting for time and fuel burdens.

Methods: We use food prices from the International Comparison Program (ICP) for 177 countries in 2011 and 2017. We class items by processing type and food group. We use OLS regression to compute price premiums by processing type, food group, region, national income and year. For diet costs, we select least-cost items in each food group by country, year, and processing type (unprocessed; processing to maintain/enhance nutritional quality; processing to diminish nutritional quality) and add non-market costs of preparing foods using fuel prices from ICP, cooking fuel data from WHO, and recipes from the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies, Global Food Matters Database and RecipeDB.

Results: Canned, frozen, dried and cured animal foods are $1.42-4.42 on average less costly per recommended daily intake than fresh meats and fish (p < 0.001), while smoked and added-salt animal foods are $4.77-4.87 more expensive (p < 0.001). Canned plant protein foods are $2.27 more expensive on average than dry legumes/nuts/seeds (p < 0.001). Dried fruits/vegetables are $2.11-2.33 less costly than fresh (p < 0.001), while added-salt vegetables are $1.51 more expensive (p < 0.001). A healthy diet is $0.59 more costly on average if made of foods processed to diminish nutritional quality vs unprocessed foods (p < 0.001), but $0.51 less if made of foods processed to preserve nutritional quality (p < 0.001). Considering only the least expensive quintile of foods in each food group/country, average diet costs are similar across processing types.

Conclusions: Processing can reduce the burden of food preparation, yet processed foods are often more expensive and some are less nutritious. Distinguishing healthy and unhealthy forms of processing can help guide policies and programs that make healthy diets available and affordable for all, accounting for the time and fuel required for meal preparation.

Funding Sources: BMGF, UKAid