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Harvard and Yuka uncover the hidden costs of cheap food

The cheapest products contain 2.6 more additives and 21% more sugar than higher-priced products, according to a US study by Harvard and food scanning app Yuka.

Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic and Yuka’s analysis of more than 800 products sold in the US across 12 everyday categories – including snacks, bread, frozen meals, deli meats, and cereals – reveals a consistent pattern.

“Unfortunately, today’s retail landscape forces a trade-off that shouldn’t exist: affordability versus quality,” Gabriella Sebag-Weingrad, US country manager at Yuka, told Ingredients Network. “And American consumers are paying the price.”

“The cheapest options are systematically lower in nutritional quality,” said Sebag-Weingrad.

When focusing specifically on additives, which the scientific team identified as higher risk, the disparity becomes even more pronounced. The lowest-priced products contain over three times as many of these additives, and avoiding them entirely comes at a steep cost of about 63% more on average.

The same trend holds for sugar and sodium. “More affordable products are significantly sweeter and saltier,” said Sebag-Weingrad. These findings are particularly concerning in the US, where, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), consumers already eat up to three times the recommended sugar intake and nearly double the recommended sodium levels.

“Taken together, this paints a troubling picture,” said Sebag-Weingrad. Price has become a proxy for quality. Lower-cost foods are far more likely to be ultra-processed and contain additives, sugar and sodium. “Framing this as a matter of individual choice misses the point – this is fundamentally a supply issue, where cheaper food carries a hidden cost, paid for in health,” she added.

Price as a proxy for quality: Reformulation provides a solution

According to Sebag-Weingrad, the most effective way manufacturers can support consumers is through reformulation.

Yuka data confirms this has already been done at scale in Europe, without sacrificing affordability.

Intermarché, a major French retailer, has improved over 2,000 products since 2019, for instance. Private-label brand Biocoop has reformulated items to eliminate certain additives. Large multinationals like Nestlé and Unilever have also made changes under similar pressure.

“This shift is measurable,” said Sebag-Weingrad. According to a survey of 200 food industry professionals in France, 78% say Yuka scores influence product formulation, and 41% systematically integrate them into product development.

Yuka is now starting to see the same dynamic in the US, where manufacturers and retailers are gradually reformulating by removing certain additives and improving nutritional profiles.

Beyond health benefits, the business case is also clear. Yuka states that 94% of its users report putting a product back when it scores poorly, and 56% have stopped buying more than ten products since using the app. “These are not marginal behaviours; they reflect real, large-scale shifts in purchasing,” said Sebag-Weingrad.

Overcoming the two-tier system

Lower-priced products contain significantly more additives, sugar, and salt, exposing a two-tiered food system where access to healthier products is largely reserved for those who can afford them. Combatting this system requires addressing its root cause: weak regulation and misaligned incentives that allow lower-cost foods to rely heavily on additives, sugar and sodium.

“Strengthening oversight is essential,” said Sebag-Weingrad. Tackling this includes closing the Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) loophole so all substances added to food undergo a reformed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review, implementing systematic post-market reassessments, and limiting additives to essential functional uses. “Greater transparency is also critical, as well as clearer disclosure of how additives are processed and sourced,” she added.

Manufacturers need to take proactive steps to reformulate products before regulations require them to do so. Acting now provides a competitive advantage and prepares businesses for future policy changes. Manufacturers should prioritise removing unnecessary additives and reducing sugar and sodium to improve public health and position themselves strategically in the market.