Trends in purchases and intake of foods and beverages containing caloric and low-calorie sweeteners over the last decade in the United States.

BACKGROUND

Current food databases might not capture rapidly occurring changes in the food supply, such as the increased use of caloric (CS) and low-calorie sweeteners (LCS) in products.

OBJECTIVE

We explored trends in purchases and intake of foods and beverages containing LCS, CS or both sweeteners over the last decade in the United States, as well as household and socioeconomic status (SES) predictors of these trends.

METHODS

We analyzed household purchases from Homescan 2000-2010 (n = 140 352 households; 408 458 individuals) and dietary intake from National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2010 (n = 34 391 individuals). We estimated per capita purchases and intake (g or mL d(-1)) and percent of consumers of foods and beverages containing LCS, CS or both LCS + CS. We estimated change in purchases associated with SES and household composition using random-effects longitudinal models.

RESULTS

From 2000 to 2010, percent of households purchasing CS products decreased, whereas that for LCS and LCS + CS products increased among all types of households and particularly among those with children. African-American, Hispanic and households with children had a higher % CS beverage purchases (+9, +4 and +3%, respectively, P < 0.001) and lower % LCS beverage purchases (-12, -5 and -2%, respectively, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

During a period of declining purchases and consumption of CS products, we have documented an increasing trend in products that contain LCS and a previously unexplored trend in products with both LCS and CS, especially important among households with children.