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Abstract
This paper addresses consumers’ choices by looking into: current food choices made
by different socio-economic groups; price barriers for diet improvement; and ways in
which marketing may affect product choice. The study seeks: first, to analyze the
differences in consumption of sausages of different nutritional composition among
different socio-demographic and lifestage groups; and second, to measure whether it
is possible to improve diet quality without affecting household expenditure. Sausages
represent a relatively high proportion of red and processed meat purchases in
Scotland, contributing significantly to the fat and sodium in the Scottish diet. The data
used consisted of two-years of weekly information from a top-4, UK supermarket. The
results suggest that it is possible to purchase similar quantities of a lower saturated
fat or lower sodium sausage for the same price as a higher saturated fat or sodium
sausage. However, it would cost more for some the groups to replace both a lower
saturated fat and a lower sodium sausage in the household’s food basket.