Families eating healthy foods only spend about $7 a week more on their shopping bill compared to their less healthy counterparts, suggests research from The University of Auckland.

Published in this week’s New Zealand Medical Journal, the study by the University’s Clinical Trials Research Unit looked at the cost of weekly shopping when particular healthier choices are made. A regular weekly shopping basket containing popular choices of foods was found to be only $7 cheaper than buying healthier substitutes.

The study found that some healthier foods are more expensive than their regular counterparts, particularly low-fat spreads (compared to butter) and leaner cuts of meat and poultry. However, some foods, such as canned fish, breakfast cereal and bread, may be cheaper when healthier substitutions are made. A healthier shopping basket would cost around $97 compared to the regular shop of $90.

"With New Zealand’s high rates of heart disease and diabetes, people should be looking to make healthier lifestyle choices," says Dr Cliona Ni Mhurchu of the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences." However, it is popular belief that eating healthier means spending more. Our research has shown that making some important healthier choices, such as eating chicken breast instead of drumsticks or drinking low-fat milk rather than full-fat, would only make about a $7 difference in a weekly family shop. This should not cause a major impact on the diet in terms of taste or choice, but could have important health benefits."

The study used electronic shopping data to determine the 1000 top-selling food items in supermarkets. Ninety top-selling food items were used to create two shopping baskets, one containing regular items and the other made up of these groceries’ healthier counterparts. Shopping baskets were then adjusted to reflect the eating habits for a family of four during one week. They included meat and poultry, butter and margarines, cheese, soft drinks, canned fruit, milk, bread, breakfast cereal and canned fish.

The study used data from the Supermarket Healthy Options Project (SHOP), a research project funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand. Additional funding for the SHOP pilot was also provided by the National Heart Foundation of New Zealand.