Comparing the cost of essential nutrients from different food sources in the American diet using NHANES 2011–2014

Nutrition Journal

Table 5 Percent intake and per unit cost of calcium in 2015–2020 DGA (appendix 11) identified food sources

Food Source	% Daily Intake Mean ± SE	Cost cents per mg Mean ± SE	Rank by Cost^a	% Daily Intake Mean ± SE	Cost cents per mg Mean ± SE	Rank by Cost^a
	Children 2–18 years			Adults 19–99 years
Cheese	10.3 ± 0.4	0.11 ± 0.002	1	12.4 ± 0.5	0.12 ± 0.00	2
Fortified ready-to-eat cereals (various)	2.60 ± 0.16	0.36 ± 0.02	8	1.70 ± 0.10	0.49 ± 0.03	8
Milk (dairy)	31.0 ± 0.7	0.11 ± 0.001	1	14.4 ± 0.5	0.11 ± 0.00	1
Mustard Spinach (tender green), raw	NA	NA		NA	NA
Orange Juice	2.48 ± 0.22	0.14 ± 0.004	3	2.19 ± 0.20	0.15 ± 0.00	3
Other non-dairy milk	1.10 ± 0.16	0.17 ± 0.01	4	1.39 ± 0.15	0.17 ± 0.00	4
Sardines, canned in oil, drained	0.001 ± 0.001	0.29 ± 0.003	7	0.01 ± 0.005	0.30 ± 0.00	7
Soy Milk and Tofu	0.32 ± 0.08	0.19 ± 0.004	5	0.48 ± 0.05	0.22 ± 0.01	5
Yogurt	2.02 ± 0.16	0.25 ± 0.003	6	2.21 ± 0.14	0.26 ± 0.00	6

Data from NHANES 2011–2014; NA – Intake data was not available in NHANES 2011–2014
^aRanking of foods from least expensive to most expensive source

ISSN: 1475-2891