GNC unveils America's most and least fortified cities

Nutraceuticals World, May, 2005

General Nutrition Centers (GNC), Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, has unveiled a ranking of the country's most and least "fortified" cities. GNC determined the fortification rankings by studying the vitamin intake and other nutritional factors of 94 geographic markets sampled by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The GNC study used two proxy variables to determine the fortification rankings, including, fruit and vegetable intake by consumers in the sampled markets, and per capita GNC multivitamin sales in the 94 sampled markets. Taking these factors into account, the most fortified cities include Bethesda, Frederick, and Gaithersburg, MD; New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford, Waterbury and Danbury, CT; Rockingham County/Strafford County, NH; Concord, NH; Edison, NJ; Williamantic, CT; Portland and South Portland, ME; Manchester-Nashua, NH, Washington, D.C. and Miami, FL. The 10 least fortified cities include Wichita and Topeka, KS; Lincoln, NE; Oklahoma City, OK; Jackson, MI; Baton Rouge, LA; Tulsa, OK; Boise City, ID; Phoenix-Mesa, AZ and Dallas, TX.