The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has revealed that it can be up to 10 times cheaper to eat unhealthy food than to buy healthy options
Nov 17 2009
Last month the FSAI announced that it is up to 10 times cheaper to eat an unhealthy diet than to eat a healthy one.
According to a survey by its committee Healthy Food For All, fruit and vegetables generally cost 45c per 100 calories whereas snacks, chips and biscuits cost just 17c per 100 calories.
The research also showed that choice of shops plays a role in people's diet, and the FSAI said that the Retail Planning Guidelines must be revised in order to improve access to healthy foods for poorer people.
In the US meanwhile, nutrition expert Dr Adam Drewnowski has developed the Affordable Nutrition Index for evaluating food by cost and nutritional value.
He believes people must be better informed about food choices, stating that dark-coloured vegetables, oranges, bananas and reduced-sodium vegetable soups are the most healthful choices per dollar spent.