WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Many consumers consider it important to avoid food additives, but they also commonly include processed foods among their grocery purchases, according to the February 2025 Consumer Food Insights Report (CFI).
The survey-based report out of Purdue University’s Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability (CFDAS) assesses food spending, consumer satisfaction and values, support of agricultural and food policies, and trust in information sources. Purdue experts conducted and evaluated the survey, which included 1,200 consumers across the U.S.
The February edition of CFI explores consumer perspectives of processed foods. “We gauge consumer familiarity with the term, opinions on healthfulness of processed foods, and what reasons they think one might choose processed foods over unprocessed or minimally processed foods,” said the report’s lead author, Joseph Balagtas, professor of agricultural economics at Purdue and director of CFDAS. The report also examines grocery purchasing decisions based on income.
Survey respondents were asked to rate the importance of eating food without additives, preservatives or artificial ingredients on a scale from “not at all important” (0) to “very important” (10). But first, the respondents were asked about what kinds of items they typically put in their grocery baskets.
“The distribution shows a larger share of responses on the right end of the scale,” Balagtas said. The average rating of 7.1 indicates that many consumers consider it important to avoid food additives.
“We then gauge familiarity with processed foods and find that two-thirds of consumers have heard of the term ‘processed foods’ and can explain what it means,” Balagtas noted. Only 1% of respondents say they have never heard of the term.
“From these screening questions, we see an interesting disparity between what consumers say is important to them and what they typically buy from the store,” he said. The majority of respondents said common ultra-processed foods such as chips, snack crackers, breakfast cereal, processed meat such as deli meat, frozen meals, soft drinks, and packaged cookies or cakes are in their household’s typical grocery orders.
“However, it is important to note that the healthfulness of processed foods is not always black and white,” Balagtas said. “Some foods may be processed or ultra-processed but can be included in a healthy diet.” Examples include whole-grain sliced bread and low-fat Greek yogurt.
Even so, 30% of consumers regarded all ultra-processed foods as unhealthy and to be avoided. The majority of consumers (61%), however, acknowledged that many of these foods can be unhealthy, but some can be part of a healthy diet.
Convenience and time savings emerged as the top reasons among 61% of respondents who indicated they might prefer processed or ultra-processed foods over unprocessed or minimally processed alternatives.
“With many processed foods being in a ready-to-eat state, they can be an important part of many household diets, especially when there is limited time or knowledge to prepare meals,” Balagtas said. Affordability, taste preferences and shelf life were the next most commonly selected reasons.
The February report assesses responses to the survey by annual household income, divided into three groups: less than $50,000, $50,000 to $100,000, and $100,000 and above. The results show that affordability plays a larger role in grocery purchasing decisions than taste and nutrition among consumers earning less than $50,000 annually.
Poor diets are more common among the lowest earning group. Higher incomes, however, do not necessarily lead to much healthier diets, said Elijah Bryant, a survey research analyst at CFDAS and a co-author of the report. Many American households earning less than $50,000 report being food insecure (42%), driving the overall food insecurity rate (14.6%).
The food attributes that consumers weigh in their grocery purchasing decisions have remained steady, Bryant noted. Taste, affordability and nutrition top the list.
“Those experiencing high rates of food insecurity are likely struggling to acquire a diversity of nutritious foods, leading to lower diet quality,” he said. “While food insecurity is a complex topic with many influential factors, knowing households’ financial well-being gives policymakers an idea of which communities might benefit the most from policy aimed at tackling food insecurity.”
Consumers’ expectations for food inflation for the next 12 months jumped 0.7 percentage points from last month to 3.3%. “As the food system grapples with issues like high egg prices due to the avian flu and other policy changes, consumers may be growing less optimistic about the future of food prices as inflation persists,” Bryant said.
Unsurprisingly, households with greater annual income tend to have larger food budgets than those making less. “However, household size is an important factor, as high-income households that spend the most on food are also often larger,” he said.
Despite this correlation, average per-person weekly food spending is still higher among households making $100,000 or more per year ($82), compared to those making $50,000-$100,000 ($69), and those making less than $50,000 ($60).
“This lower food budget among low-income households can have implications for food security,” Bryant said. “A sizeable share of consumers within these households struggle to afford enough nutritionally adequate food.”
The Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability is part of Purdue’s Next Moves in agriculture and food systems and uses innovative data analysis shared through user-friendly platforms to improve the food system. In addition to the Consumer Food Insights Report, the center offers a portfolio of online dashboards.
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