The food retail environment is an important determinant of food access and the ability to achieve a healthy diet. However, immigrant communities may procure their food in different ways than the mainstream population owing to preferences for specific cultural products or limited English language proficiency. The objective of this analysis was to describe the grocery shopping patterns and behaviours of one of the largest immigrant groups in New York City, Chinese Americans – a group experiencing high poverty and cardio-metabolic disparities.

Cross-sectional survey data.

Community-based sample.

Self-identified Chinese Americans in the New York metropolitan area (n 239).

Three shopping patterns were identified: type 1: shopped weekly at an ethnic grocery store – and nowhere else; type 2: shopped weekly at a non-ethnic grocery store, with occasional shopping at an ethnic store and type 3: did not perform weekly shopping. Type 1 v. type 2 shoppers tended to have lower education levels (37·5 v. 78·0 % with college degree); to be on public insurance (57·6 v. 22·8 %); speak English less well (18·4 v. 41·4 %); be food insecure (47·2 v. 24·2 %; P < 0·01 for all) and to travel nearly two miles further to shop at their primary grocery store (β = −1·55; 95 % CI −2·81, −0·30).

There are distinct grocery shopping patterns amongst urban-dwelling Chinese Americans corresponding to demographic and sociocultural factors that may help inform health interventions in this understudied group. Similar patterns may exist among other immigrant groups, lending preliminary support for an alternative conceptualisation of how immigrant communities interact with the food retail environment.

To examine the feasibility of using social media to assess the consumer nutrition environment by comparing sentiment expressed in Yelp reviews with information obtained from a direct observation audit instrument for grocery stores.

Trained raters used the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey in Stores (NEMS-S) in 100 grocery stores from July 2015 to March 2016. Yelp reviews were available for sixty-nine of these stores and were retrieved in February 2017 using the Yelp Application Program Interface. A sentiment analysis was conducted to quantify the perceptions of the consumer nutrition environment in the review text. Pearson correlation coefficients (ρ) were used to compare NEMS-S scores with Yelp review text on food availability, quality, price and shopping experience.

Detroit, Michigan, USA.

None.

Yelp reviews contained more comments about food availability and the overall shopping experience than food price and food quality. Negative sentiment about food prices in Yelp review text and the number of dollar signs on Yelp were positively correlated with observed food prices in stores (ρ=0·413 and 0·462, respectively). Stores with greater food availability were rated as more expensive on Yelp. Other aspects of the food store environment (e.g. overall quality and shopping experience) were captured only in Yelp.

While Yelp cannot replace in-person audits for collecting detailed information on the availability, quality and cost of specific food items, Yelp holds promise as a cost-effective means to gather information on the overall cost, quality and experience of food stores, which may be relevant for nutrition outcomes.

The present store-based intervention was designed to promote sales of fruits and vegetables (F&V) to increase intake among store customers – specifically customers of tiendas, small-to-medium-sized Latino food stores.

Four tiendas were randomized to a 2-month environmental change intervention or a delayed treatment control condition. Employees and managers were trained to promote F&V sales, including how to implement a food marketing campaign and installing store equipment to promote fresh fruits and vegetables. The primary outcome was self-reported daily intake of F&V among a convenience sample of customers (at least forty per store) collected at baseline prior to randomization and then 4 months later. In addition, changes in availability of F&V in the tiendas, using unobtrusive observational methods, provided evidence of intervention fidelity.

Tiendas in central North Carolina.

Participants included 179 customers who were recent immigrants from Mexico and Central America.

A group-by-time interaction approached significance on daily servings of F&V; intervention customers reported an increase in F&V intake over time and as a function of the intervention (P ≤ 0·06). Unexpectedly, self-efficacy for consuming more fruits (P ≤ 0·01) and more vegetables (P ≤ 0·06) decreased. In our store-level analyses, a group-by-time interaction was observed for availability of fresh and canned vegetables; the intervention increased availability of vegetables but not fruit.

Environmental change strategies to promote healthy eating are needed given the rates of obesity and diabetes in the Latino population. A store-based intervention was moderately effective at increasing customers’ reported F&V intake. Such strategies can have a public health impact on underserved populations.

The purpose of the present study was to characterise the food landscape of an inner city African American neighbourhood and its mixed-race suburban neighbour. Detailed analysis focuses on the relationship between community store mix and price, availability and produce quality.

A market basket study was completed by members of the Chicago Food Systems Collaborative. The US Department of Agriculture's standard market basket survey and methodology were used. Additional items and analyses were added in consultation with community members.

Austin is a lower-middle-class African American community of 117 500 on the western edge of Chicago. Oak Park, which borders Austin, is an upper-middle-income suburb of 52 500 with a mixed racial profile.

A market basket survey of every retail food store in Austin and Oak Park was completed. A total of 134 were included.

Results indicate that Austin has many grocery stores and few supermarkets. Many Austin groceries stores carry produce that is usually competitively priced, but often of unacceptable quality. Supermarkets had the best selection. Prices were lowest at discount supermarkets. Prices of packaged items were higher at independent stores than at chain supermarkets, but fresh items were cheaper.

Food access is related more to store type than number. In this study, item availability and produce quality varied greatly between store types. Price differences were complicated and varied by store type and food category. This has consequences in terms of food purchasing decisions and dietary quality that public health professionals should acknowledge.