Comparison of food and beverage products' availability, variety, price and quality in German and US supermarkets

Objective: To assess availability, variety, price and quality of different food products in a convenience sample of supermarkets in Germany and the USA. Design: Cross-sectional study using an adapted version of the Bridging the Gap Food Store Observation Form. Setting: Information on availability, quality, price and variety of selected food products in eight German and seven US supermarkets (discount and full service) was obtained and compared by country. Results: A general tendency for lower prices of fruits and vegetables in Germany was observed, while produce quality and variety did not seem to differ between countries, with the exception of the variety of some vegetables such as tomatoes. Chips and cereals did not differ significantly in variety nor price. In both countries, high energy-dense foods were lower in energy costs than lower energy-dense foods. Conclusions: The influence of food prices and availability on consumption should be further explored, including the impact of country differences.