Price discounts are more effective than nutrition education in encouraging people to buy healthier foods, according to a New Zealand study, the first of its kind internationally. Dr Cliona Ni Mhurchu from The University of Auckland was the lead researcher of the Supermarket Health Options Project (SHOP) study. From 2008 to 2009, the study tracked the purchases of 1104 shoppers at eight Pak’ N Save supermarkets in the lower North Island. Half of the shoppers received a 12.5% discount (equivalent to no GST) for six months on items identified as being healthier, and the other half received intensive personalised nutrition education for six months, with shopping lists, recipes and advice provided. Price discounts resulted in an 11% increase in the amount of healthier food purchased, with two-thirds of the increase attributed to fruit and vegetables. While purchases of less healthy food disappointingly did not change, Dr Ni Mhurchu says the added healthier foods in the shopping basket created an improved overall diet. And another six months after the discounts ended, those in the discount group were still buying 5% more healthier foods. In contrast, no change in the purchase of healthier foods was seen in shoppers who received nutrition education alone. Professor Tony Blakely, a research colleague from the University of Otago says, “We believe that strategies to reduce the price of healthy foods have an important role to play.” The study has been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.