TABLE 1.

Characteristics of 1387 foods from the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies and the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion food prices database by 9 major food groups as defined by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)¹

		Food characteristics			Food price measures
Major USDA food groups	No. of foods	Energy density	Water content	Serving size (RACC)	Price per 100 g	Price per serving	Energy cost
		kcal/100 g	g/100 g	g	$/100 g	$/serving	$/100 kcal
Milk and milk products	134	182 ± 1122,a	66 ± 17a	112 ± 89a,b	0.40 ± 0.31a,b,g,h	0.26 ± 0.17a	0.23 ± 0.13a
Meat, poultry, and fish	196	224 ± 98a,b	60 ± 14a	89 ± 51a,c	0.80 ± 0.44d	0.63 ± 0.38b	0.41 ± 0.31b
Eggs	8	171 ± 74a,c,d	72 ± 10a,b,c	65 ± 28a,d,e,f	0.32 ± 0.16a,b,g,h	0.24 ± 0.21a,c,f	0.22 ± 0.14a,b,c
Dry beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds	62	330 ± 217e	40 ± 33d	76 ± 62c,d	0.50 ± 0.47a,e	0.26 ± 0.22a,d	0.18 ± 0.17a
Grain products	435	337 ± 110e	24 ± 23e	63 ± 53d	0.47 ± 0.3a,f	0.23 ± 0.20a,e	0.14 ± 0.10a
Fruit	93	67 ± 56c	82 ± 15b	157 ± 77g	0.28 ± 0.22b,c	0.40 ± 0.33d,f,g	0.54 ± 0.48b,c,d
Vegetables	257	83 ± 80c	80 ± 1 7b	102 ± 59a,c,h	0.33 ± 0.26c,g	0.29 ± 0.33a,e,g,h	0.68 ± 0.69d
Fats, oils, and salad dressings	51	390 ± 226e	47 ± 23c,d	22 ± 9e	0.37 ± 0.18c,e,f,h,g	0.09 ± 0.08c	0.17 ± 0.19a
Sugars, sweets, and beverages	151	242 ± 190b,d	45 ± 39c,d	119 ± 102b,f,h	0.40 ± 0.41c,e,f,h,g	0.23 ± 0.18a,h	0.22 ± 0.21a
P values (one-factor ANOVA)	—	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001

¹Data are from references 9 and 10. RACC, Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed. Statistical tests are based on post hoc comparisons after one-factor ANOVA and by using Bonferroni correction. Values with different superscript letters are significantly different from each other.

²Mean ± SD (all such values).