Table 2.
Number and proportion of stores with food availability, and average prices for each product category, rural Avalon, NL 2015
| Healthy items | Regular items | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of items audited per store | Stores available | Average price (in each unit of measure) | Stores available | Average price (in each unit of measure) | |||||||||
| Group | Product category | Healthy (n = 48) | Regular (n = 22) | n | % | $/kg (95%CI) | $/serv (95%CI) | $/1000 kcal (95%CI) | n | % | $/kg (95%CI) | $/serv (95%CI) | $/1000 kcal (95%CI) |
| Produce1 | |||||||||||||
| Fruits, fresh | 6 | – | 47 | 60 | $ 6.02 (4.76–7.28) | $ 0.51 (0.39–0.63) | $ 11.59 (8.84–14.34) | ||||||
| Fruits, frozen | 1 | – | 15 | 19 | $ 9.46 (8.93–9.99) | $ 0.77 (0.73–0.82) | $ 18.55 (17.52–19.58) | ||||||
| Fruits, canned | 2 | – | 68 | 87 | $ 5.09 (4.86–5.33) | $ 0.67 (0.64–0.70) | $ 9.90 (9.24–10.57) | ||||||
| Vegetables, fresh | 10 | – | 66 | 85 | $ 4.49 (4.11–4.87) | $ 0.31 (0.29–0.33) | $ 19.53 (17.19–21.86) | ||||||
| Vegetables, frozen | 1 | – | 16 | 21 | $ 4.54 (3.93–5.15) | $ 0.35 (0.30–0.39) | $ 5.89 (5.10–6.69) | ||||||
| Vegetables, canned | 2 | – | 72 | 92 | $ 3.92 (3.74–4.10) | $ 0.41 (0.39–0.43) | $ 13.22 (11.89–14.56) | ||||||
| Eggs | 1 | – | 65 | 83 | $ 6.94 (6.76–7.11) | $ 0.69 (0.68–0.71) | $ 4.92 (4.80–5.04) | ||||||
| Packaged | |||||||||||||
| Baked goods2* | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | $ 9.83 (8.60–11.05) | $ 0.55 (0.49–0.61) | $ 4.25 (4.02–4.49) | 57 | 73 | $ 15.25 (13.96–16.54) | $ 1.17 (1.04–1.30) | $ 4.53 (4.13–4.92) | |
| Beverages3 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 21 | $ 2.30 (1.64–2.96) | $ 0.30 (0.21–0.39) | $ 4.99 (3.56–6.42) | 75 | 96 | $ 2.50 (2.34–2.66) | $ 0.47 (0.44–0.49) | $ 7.70 (6.99–8.42) | |
| Bread | 3 | 3 | 52 | 67 | $ 6.24 (6.04–6.44) | $ 0.22 (0.21–0.23) | $ 2.43 (2.35–2.51) | 58 | 74 | $ 6.17 (5.98–6.37) | $ 0.22 (0.21–0.22) | $ 2.37 (2.29–2.44) | |
| Cereal | 1 | 1 | 59 | 76 | $ 15.92 (14.18–17.66) | $ 0.48 (0.43–0.53) | $ 4.09 (3.65–4.54) | 53 | 68 | $ 13.88 (12.31–15.44) | $ 0.42 (0.37–0.46) | $ 3.50 (3.11–3.90) | |
| Cheese** | 2 | 1 | 44 | 56 | $ 20.83 (16.98–24.68) | $ 1.04 (0.85–1.23) | $ 5.13 (4.18–6.08) | 58 | 74 | $ 12.09 (11.50–12.67) | $ 0.25 (0.24–0.27) | $ 4.63 (4.41–4.85) | |
| Chips | 2 | 1 | 69 | 88 | $ 16.68 (15.67–17.69) | $ 0.56 (0.52–0.60) | $ 3.20 (3.00–3.40) | 76 | 97 | $ 17.95 (17.17–18.73) | $ 0.77 (0.74–0.81) | $ 3.37 (3.23–3.52) | |
| Frozen dinner | 1 | 1 | 27 | 35 | $ 12.81 (11.30–14.33) | $ 2.91 (2.56–3.25) | $ 5.57 (4.91–6.23) | 40 | 51 | $ 11.21 (10.22–12.20) | $ 2.54 (2.32–2.77) | $ 3.50 (3.19–3.81) | |
| Meats | 4 | 5 | 59 | 76 | $ 9.46 (8.83–10.08) | $ 1.12 (0.97–1.26) | $ 5.91 (5.12–6.71) | 65 | 83 | $ 10.36 (9.50–11.22) | $ 0.90 (0.83–0.97) | $ 4.09 (3.78–4.39) | |
| Meat alternatives* | 3 | 1 | 73 | 94 | $ 6.80 (6.17–7.43) | $ 0.55 (0.50–0.59) | $ 4.91 (4.29–5.54) | 60 | 77 | $ 8.54 (8.02–9.05) | $ 0.28 (0.26–0.30) | $ 1.45 (1.36–1.54) | |
| Milk* | 4 | 1 | 72 | 92 | $ 2.45 (2.40–2.49) | $ 0.63 (0.62–0.64) | $ 4.87 (4.74–5.01) | 68 | 87 | $ 5.63 (5.45–5.81) | $ 0.75 (0.73–0.77) | $ 6.12 (5.93–6.32) | |
| Pasta** | 1 | 1 | 15 | 19 | $ 8.17 (7.50–8.83) | $ 0.45 (0.42–0.49) | $ 2.35 (2.15–2.54) | 70 | 90 | $ 5.00 (4.73–5.27) | $ 0.37 (0.35–0.39) | $ 3.17 (3.00–3.33) | |
| Rice | 1 | 1 | 15 | 19 | $ 7.14 (6.03–8.24) | $ 0.70 (0.59–0.81) | $ 1.93 (1.63–2.23) | 65 | 83 | $ 8.24 (7.87–8.61) | $ 0.81 (0.77–0.84) | $ 2.26 (2.16–2.36) | |
1The produce group includes canned and frozen vegetables along with fresh, as these are all considered healthier options in our region and the promotion of frozen and canned fruit and vegetable alternatives is important to rural nutrition promotion. The original NEMS-S did not contain frozen or canned vegetables but these have been added by our team and others in subsequent Canadian and US adaptations of checklist audit instruments
2Asterisks indicate product categories where we detected a significant difference between average category prices ($/kg) for healthier as compared with regular options. A single asterisk * shows the healthier options were cheaper than the regular; a double asterisk ** indicates that healthier options were more expensive than the regular
3Due to fieldwork error, healthy option beverage items were only audited in 16 stores (21%)