According to INSEE, at least in February, the rise in food prices in one year reached 14.5%. A figure well above the average inflation for all sectors combined, estimated at 6.2%. And the trend should continue.
This increase in prices on the shelves inevitably leads to a change in the consumer basket and in eating habits with the risk: a deterioration in the quality of the food consumed.
“The rise in prices creates an imbalance in terms of food,” Noémie Hernandez, a dietitian-nutritionist, agrees with BFMTV.com, especially in the most modest homes.
“Keep a balanced diet”
During this period, the specialist observes that her patients are orientent beaucoup plus vers les féculents: les pâtes, le riz, la semoule… “C’est pas cher et c’est surtout rapide à cuisiner”, explain-t- she.
“It gives a lot of energy but today we don’t spend like we did back then, which creates a risk of significant weight gain,” adds Noémie Hernandez.
The latter also notes a drop in protein consumption in general, an increase in the purchase of canned vegetables and fruits, and an increase in the consumption of eggs.
In this inflationary context, Noémie Hernandez recommends “always trying to maintain a balanced diet.” “For example, if fresh fish is too expensive, we can resort to some canned mackerel,” she explains.
“Legumes and grain mixes can also be very good substitutes for meat in a meal,” he continues.
“A marker of precariousness”
“We know that junk food is clearly a marker of precariousness, even before the health and economic crises, but inflation is exacerbating this problem,” Karine Jacquemart, director of the Foodwatch France association, told AFP.
According to a study by the League Against Obesity, the obesity rate in France is 17% in 2023 compared to 8.5% in 1997. This figure rises to 18% among workers compared to 10% among top executives. More generally, between 2000 and 2020, obesity increased 2.5 points among executives and 9 points among workers.
“Junk food is at our doorstep,” laments nutritionist Jean-Michel Cohen on BFMTV on Thursday.
cheap inflation
The director of Foodwatch France, who calls for more transparency in prices and compositions, also warns: “With the sky-high prices of certain ingredients, the risk is that manufacturers will be tempted to replace them even more than ‘before with cheaper substitutes’.
This phenomenon has a name: cheapflation, contraction of “cheap” (by expensive, low-end) and inflation. Practiced mainly by American manufacturers, it involves replacing basic products in the composition of prepared products with cheaper substitutes. This allows you to maintain your margins without increasing your costs in the face of inflation.
For example, in chocolate ice cream the cream and chocolate are removed to add more artificial flavors or in Parmesan cheese: less cheese for more substitutes for wood chips.
A practice that does not surprise Noémie Hernández. “It existed in other countries like Australia and it’s not surprising that it happens in France,” she laments.
Prioritize raw products
The risk is then to degrade the diet, without necessarily realizing it, and to consume less digestible products, often fattier and sweeter. “We end up with a poor diet that no longer provides the necessary nutrients and, on the contrary, stuffs us with unnecessary things like sugar,” explains the dietitian-nutritionist.
Given the rise in food prices, Noémie Hernandez advises buying fewer industrial products, “which are more expensive than homemade ones.” In fact, she recommends cooking as much as possible “especially in large quantities for those who don’t have the time.”
“To protect yourself from these cheapening practices, you have to favor raw, cheaper and healthier foods. For example, instead of buying flavored yoghurts, it is better to take a natural yoghurt and add bits of fruit to it”, he explains.
In the long term, inflation risks reinforcing “social inequalities in health linked to food,” Nicole Darmon, Inrae’s research director, explained to AFP, exposing the poorest to “less good protection against diseases cardiovascular and cancer.
Source: BFM TV
