Table 3.
Differences in energy, unit and serving costs according to level of processing across five food categories for 6020 packaged foods available for sale in New Zealand supermarkets in 2011
| Level of processing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group 1: Minimally processed | Group 2: Culinary processed | Group 3: Ultra-processed | ANOVA | |
| Food category | Mean | Mean | Mean | P value |
| Beverages | ||||
| NPSC score | 1·40 | – | 4·46 | <0·001 |
| Energy cost ($NZ/100 kJ) | 2·69 | – | 11·65 | 0·002 |
| Unit costs ($/NZ100 g) | 0·37 | – | 0·87 | <0·001 |
| Serving costs ($NZ/serving) | 1·08 | – | 1·22 | 0·172 |
| Cereals | ||||
| NPSC score | 2·38 | 2·31 | 9·49 | <0·001* |
| Energy cost ($NZ/100 kJ) | 0·31 | 0·32 | 0·33 | 0·800 |
| Unit costs ($/NZ100 g) | 1·29 | 0·89 | 1·59 | <0·001† |
| Serving costs ($NZ/serving) | 0·59 | 0·96 | 0·91 | 0·082 |
| Dairy | ||||
| NPSC score | – | −0·97 | 15·21 | <0·001 |
| Energy cost ($NZ/100 kJ) | – | 1·79 | 0·73 | <0·001 |
| Unit costs ($/NZ100 g) | – | 0·30 | 2·51 | <0·001 |
| Serving costs ($NZ/serving) | – | 0·67 | 1·02 | 0·001 |
| Fish and fish products | ||||
| NPSC score | 2·14 | – | 1·56 | 0·377 |
| Energy cost ($NZ/100 kJ) | 1·35 | – | 0·45 | <0·001 |
| Unit costs ($/NZ100 g) | 2·61 | – | 1·99 | 0·007 |
| Serving costs ($NZ/serving) | 2·27 | – | 1·60 | <0·001 |
| Fruit and vegetables | ||||
| NPSC score | 5·73 | – | 6·57 | 0·087 |
| Energy cost ($NZ/100 kJ) | 1·18 | – | 1·08 | 0·517 |
| Unit costs ($/NZ100 g) | 1·67 | – | 1·11 | <0·001 |
| Serving costs ($NZ/serving) | 0·93 | – | 0·60 | <0·001 |
NPSC, Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criterion, is used to determine the healthiness of products and ranges between −5 and 40; higher scores indicate less healthy products.
*
Post hoc Games–Howell showed that NPSC score differed significantly (P<0·050) between group 1 & 3 and group 2 & 3.
†
Post hoc Games–Howell showed that unit cost differed significantly (P<0·050) between group 1 & 2 and group 2 & 3.