Contribution of Away-From-Home Foods to American Diet Quality

Family Economics and Nutrition Review, Winter, 1999

Conclusion

Away-from-home foods generally contain more of the nutrients overconsumed and less of the nutrients underconsumed by Americans. The increased popularity of dining out may make it more difficult to improve the overall nutritional quality of diets. Because this trend is expected to continue, nutrition policy, educational programs, and promotion strategies could address nutritional quality of food away from home and consumers' food choices when eating out.

Food away from home does not have to differ nutritionally from food prepared at home. Consumer demand for such foods, however, must be strong enough to create an economic incentive for increased marketing of nutritious items by restaurants and fast-food establishments. Consumers may have a different attitude about food away from home than food at home. They may consider it as an occasional treat that does not have the same effect on the overall diet as food at home. Consumers may not realize the extent to which eating out has become a part of their usual diets. To the degree that consumer attitudes are a barrier to change, nutrition education and promotion strategies may be able to inform consumers of the effect of away-from-home food on overall diet quality.

(1) Home and away-from-home foods are defined based on where foods are obtained, not where they are eaten. Home food is purchased at a retail store and food away from home is purchased mainly from foodservice establishments. Both food at home and food away from home can be eaten at home or away front home.

(2) Dietary recommendations were from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and other health authorities.

Source: Lin, B-H., Frazao, E., and Guthrie, J., 1999, Away-From-Home Foods Increasingly Important to Quality of American Diet, Agricultural Information Bulletin No. 749, U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.