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. 2018 Nov 3;21:1738–1744. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2018.10.084

Data of unhealthy food availability in hospitals

Colin E Champ a,⁎, Nick A Iarrobino b, Christopher P Haskins c,d
PMCID: PMC6249542  PMID: 30505909

Abstract

In our manuscript, we present the food choices available at vending machines in government-run Veterans Affairs Hospitals. The data in this article includes both a quantification of the beverages and packages foods available, along with a comparison of recommendations and sugar content to the government-issued USDA Dietary Guidelines 2015–2020. For further discussion on the results of this study, refer to the full manuscript “Lead by Poor Example: An Assessment of Snacks, Soda, and Junk Food Availability in Veterans Affairs Hospitals” (Champ et al., 2018) [1].

Specifications table

Subject area Medicine
More specific subject area Nutrition
Type of data Tables and Figures
How data was acquired Freedom of Information Act request through online submission
Data format Raw
Experimental factors The number and contents of vending machines were quantified at Veterans Affairs Hospitals, and nutritional content was calculated.
Experimental features Data was compared with official government dietary guidelines, the USDA Dietary Guidelines 2015–2020, to assess whether the foods presented within their facilities correlated with these guidelines.
Data source location All Veterans Affairs Hospital Locations, USA
Data accessibility Data can be found within this article
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Value of the data

  • •

    These data reveal what foods are available in vending machines within our government-run Veterans Affairs Hospitals

  • •

    Findings illustrate the quantity of vending machines at all hospital locations

  • •

    These data expose the quantitative and qualitative aspects of required food and drink items offered to patients and guests within hospitals

  • •

    These data can be directly compared to government-provided dietary recommendations to assess consistency and areas that need addressed

1. Data

There are three tables describing the locations and contents of vending machines, and two figures revealing the mandated contents in each. Table 1 lists the Veteran Affairs facilities and number of vending machines on site. Table 2 describes the drink items supplied in vending machines and their sugar content. Table 3 describes the packaged food items available in vending machines. Fig. 1 is an example of required beverages in vending machines. Fig. 2 is an example of required packaged foods in vending machines.

Table 1.

Veteran Affairs facilities and number of vending machines on site.

Location # Location # Location # Location #
Albany, NY 16 Dayton, OH 27 Long Beach CA 26 Reno, NV 8
Albuquerque, NM 20 Decatur, GA 22 Los Angeles CA 34 Richmond, VA 25
Alexandria, LA 18 Denver, CO 11 Los Angeles, CA 15 Roseburg, OR 11
Altoona, PA 7 Des Moines, IA 10 Los Angeles, CA OPC 3 Sacramento, CA 6
Amarillo, TX 15 Detroit, MI 18 Louisville, KY 16 Saginaw, MI 8
Ann Arbor, MI 30 Dublin, GA 15 Lyons, NJ 19 Salem, VA 17
Asheville, NC 25 Durham, NC 19 Madison, WI 19 Salisbury, NC 21
Aspinwall, PA 11 East Orange, NJ 23 Manchester, NH 8 Salt Lake City, UT 22
Augusta, GA (DT) 15 El Paso, TX 12 Marion, IL 17 San Antonio, TX 23
Augusta, GA U 14 Erie, PA 6 Marion, IN 8 San Diego, CA 19
Austin, TX 1 Fargo, ND 15 Martinez, CA 8 San Francisco, CA 15
Baltimore, MD 5 Fayetteville, AR 7 Martinsbrug, WV 23 San Juan, PR 38
Batavia, NY 4 Fayetteville, NC 11 Melbourne, FL 2 Seattle, WA 10
Bath, NY 13 Fort Meade, SD 9 Memphis, TN 28 Sepulveda, CA 7
Battle Creek, MI 20 Fort Wayne, IN 8 Menlo Park CA 10 Sheridan, WY 19
Bay Pines, FL 39 Fresno, CA 11 Miami, FL 28 Shreveport, LA 19
Beckley, WV 12 Ft Harrison, MT 5 Middleton, WI 2 Sioux Falls, SD 6
Bedford, MA 31 Ft Worth, TX 4 Milwaukee, WI 31 Spokane, WA 4
Big Spring, TX 8 Ft McPherson, GA 4 Minneapolis, MN 39 St Louis, MO JB 17
Biloxi, MS 27 Gainesville, FL 26 Montgomery, AL 11 St Louis, MO JC 16
Birmingham, AL 18 Grand Island, NE 5 Montrose, NY 16 St. Albans, NY 9
Boise, ID 11 Grand Junction, CO 4 Mountain Home, TN 28 Syracuse, NY 14
Bonham, TX 13 Hampton, VA 18 Murfreesboro, TN 21 Tacoma, WA 13
Boston, MA 18 Hines, IL 56 Muskogee, OK 14 Tampa FL 20
Brockton, MA 13 Hot Springs, SD 8 N Little Rock, AR 22 Temple, TX 33
Bronx, NY 25 Houston, TX 43 Nashville, TN 16 Togus, ME 13
Brooklyn, NY 6 Huntington, WV 20 New York, NY 14 Tomah, WI 27
Buffalo, NY 17 Indianapolis, IN 16 Newington, CT 5 Topeka, KS 18
Canadaigua, NY 14 Iowa City, IA 18 North Chicago, IL 29 Tucson, AZ 25
Castle Point, NY 6 Iron Mountain, MI 9 Northampton, MA 5 Tuscaloosa, AL 20
Charleston, SC 13 Jackson, MS 20 Northport, NY 21 Tuskegee, AL 11
Cheyenne, WY 7 Kansas City, MO 17 Oklamhoma City, OK 20 Vancouver, WA 14
Chicago, IL (WS) 25 Kerrville, TX 5 Omaha, NE 17 Waco, TX 21
Chillicothe, OH 27 Lake City, FL 17 Orlando, FL 8 Walla Walla, WA 8
Cincinatti, OH 17 Lake Nona, FL 9 Palo Alto, CA 35 Washington, DC 18
Clarksburg, WV 6 Las Vegas, NV 39 Perry Point, MD 17 West Haven, CT 18
Cleveland, OH 33 Leavenworth, KS 29 Philadelphia, PA 13 West Palm Beach, FL 16
Coatesville, PA 30 Lebanon, PA 18 Phoenix, AZ 24 West Roxbury, MA 12
Columbia, MO 15 Leestown, KY 10 Pittsburgh, PA 24 White City, OR 16
Columbia, SC 19 Lexington, KY 13 Poplar Bluff, MO 8 White River JCT, VT 7
Columbia, OH 7 Little Rock, AR 10 Portland, OR 14 Wichita, KS 19
Dallas, TX 57 Loch Raven MD 6 Prescott, AZ 12 Wilkes-Barre, PA 9
Danville, IL 20 Loma Linda, CA 20 Providence, RI 10 Wilmington, DE 11
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# = number of vending machines at facility.

Table 2.

Drink items supplied in vending machines and their sugar content.

Soda machine Mandatory item Sugar (g) in 12 oz. portion Sugar (g) in 20 oz. portion Substitution item Sugar (g) in 12 oz. portion Sugar (g) in 20 oz. portion
  • 1.

    Coke Glassfront Royal RVV-500

  • 2.

    2. Coke Glassfront Model 5800, Vue 40a

 Dasani Water 0 0 Fanta Strawberry 44 74
Coca-Cola 39 65 Fresca 0 0
Coca Cola Zero 0 0 Barg׳s Root Beer 45 75
Diet Coke 0 0 Mello Yellow 47 78
Sprite Zero 0 0 Minute Maid Cranberry Grape Juice 45 N/A
Fuze Sweet Tea 44 N/A Poweraid N/A 34
Coca-Cola Cherry 42 70 Monster Energy Drink 55b
Seagrams Ginger Ale 33 55 Diet Caffeine Free Coke 0 0
Sprite 38 57 Fuze Sweet Tea Lemonade 19 31
Pibb Xtra 39 65
Minute Maid Apple Juice 48 N/A
Minute Maid Orange Juice 40 N/A
Fanta Orange 44 74
Fanta Grape 44 74


 

 

 

 

 

 


1. Pepsi Glassfront Stand Alone Model 5800, Vue 40 Aquafina 0 0 Sierra Mist 37 62
Pepsi Max 0 0 Orange Crush 43 71
Pepsi 41 69 Grape Crush 43 71
Diet Pepsi 0 0 Mountain Dew Red 46 77
Mountain Dew 46 77 Diet Caffeine-Free Pepsi 0 0
Diet Mountain Dew 0 0 Orange Gatorade 21 34
Mug Root Beer 43 71 Lemon/Lime Gatorade 22 34
Brisk Iced Tea 17 29 Cool Blue Gatorade 21 34
Lipton Green Tea N/A 32 Starbucks Mocha Frap 31c N/A
Diet Green Tea 0 0 Starbucks Vanilla Frap 31c N/A
Canada Dry/Scwepps Ginger Ale 32 54 Ocean Spray Crangrape 56a N/A
Gatorade Fruit Punch 21 34 Ocean Spray Cranberry~ 37d N/A
Ocean Spray Orange~ 44a N/A Ocean Spray Grapefruit~ 42 N/A
Dr. Pepper 41 66 AMP Energy Drink N/A 58b
Diet Dr. Pepper 0 0 AMP Sugar Free N/A 0
Diet Cherry Pepsi 0 0
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N/A = not available, oz = fluid ounce.

a

Option of adding Dr. Pepper (12 oz 41 g and 20 oz 66 g sugar) and Diet Dr. Pepper.

b

16 oz, ~100% fruit juice.

c

9.5 oz.

d

10 oz.

Table 3.

Food items available in vending machines.

Mandatory Items Substituted Items
Candy: Candy:
M&Ms Skittles
Peanut M&Ms Twix Candy Bar
Snickers Candy Bar Payday Candy Bar
Milky Way Candy Bar Kit Kat Candy Bar
3 Musketeer Candy Bar Twizzlers
Reese׳s Peanut Butter Cup Almond Joy Candy Bar
Reese׳s Pieces Candy Potato Chips/Puffed Corn Snack
Hershey Almond Bar Baked Lays Potato Chips
MF Buddy Bar Ruffles Cheese & Sour Cream Potato Chips
Welch׳s Fruit Snack Stacey׳s Pita Chips
Lifesaver Wintogreen Lays Barbecue Potato Chips
Lifesaver 5 Sweet Potato Kettle Chips
Pastry/Frosted Baked Goods Nuts/Trail Mix
MF Texas Cinnamon Roll Kind Bar
MF Cinnabon Honey Bun Honey Roasted Peanuts
Strawberry Pop Tart Wonderful Pistachios
Rice Krispie Treats Cookies
MF Chocolate Donut Grandmas Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cookies Nutter Butter Cookies
Oreo Bite Size Crackers/Pretzels
Chips Ahoy Bite Size Wheat Thins
Grandmas Vanilla Crème Cookies Wheat Thins Veggie
Grandmas Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Pastry/Frosted Baked Goods
Potato Chips/Puffed Corn Snack Belvita Blueberry
Lays Regular Potato Chips MF Powdered Sugar Donuts
Fritos Gum
Cheetos Trident Spearmint
Doritos Nacho Trident Tropical Twist
Crackers/Pretzels Popcorn
TGIF Cheddar/Bacon Smart Popcorn
Cheez-It Act II Popcorn
Snyder Mini Pretzels Pork Rinds
Gardettos Original Mac׳s Pork Rinds
Lance Toast Chee Peanutbutter Crackers Granola Bar
Granola Bar Clif Bar
Nature Valley Oats and Honey Jerky
Nature Valley Peanut Butter Jack Links Tender Cut Jerky


 


Nuts/Trail Mix
Kars Trail Mix
Planters Peanuts
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Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

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Example of required beverages in vending machines.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2

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Example of required packaged foods in vending machines.

2. Experimental design, materials and methods

Veterans Affairs Hospitals were assessed via an official request after process verification for the Freedom of Information Act from the Veterans Administration. The request was for the location and number of VA hospitals containing vending machines, the number of vending machines within each hospital, and the contents of these vending machines. The contents were analyzed from the FOIA reports, and the nutritional contents of each beverage were assessed via the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Composition Databases, pepsicobeveragefacts.com, coca-colaproductfacts.com, and myfitnesspal.com if the former sources did not contain nutritional information. These results were compared with official government dietary guidelines, the USDA Dietary Guidelines 2015–2020.

Footnotes

Transparency document

Transparency data associated with this article can be found in the online version at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2018.10.084.

Transparency document. Supplementary material

Supplementary material

mmc1.docx (11.6KB, docx)

Reference

  • 1.Champ C.E., Iarrobino N.A., Haskins C.P. Hospitals lead by poor example: an assessment of snacks, soda, and junk food availability in Veterans Affairs Hospitals. Nutrition. 2018 doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2018.09.028. In Press. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Associated Data

This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

Supplementary Materials

Supplementary material

mmc1.docx (11.6KB, docx)

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