Sweetener Consumption in the United States: Distribution by Demographic and Product Characteristics

by Stephen Haley, Jane Reed, Biing-Hwan Lin, and Annetta Cook

U.S. consumption of sugars added to food items increased by 23 percent between 1985 and 1999. Although USDA data have documented the overall growth trend, not much has been inferred from USDA survey data. This article helps fill a gap by reporting findings for sweetener consumption by income and demographic characteristics. Among the conclusions: per capita sweetener consumption is highest in the Midwest and lowest in the Northeast and sweetener consumption tends to rise with increased income up to a certain level and then fall.

Keywords: sugar, corn sweeteners, U.S. sweetener consumption, Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals, CSFII, Food Commodity Intake Database, FCID

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