Abstract:
Grocery flyers are an important component of the informational food environment that
can affect food purchasing behaviour. This thesis used a repeat cross-sectional design to examine
the food group content and nutrient profiles of foods and beverages marketed in Canada’s largest
food retailer’s flyers in 2014, 2017, and 2021. The largest proportions of flyer items were baked
products (11%), non-alcoholic beverages (10.7%) and milk and dairy (10.2%). Least
healthy/ultra-processed items, as coded by three nutrient profiling systems, made up a substantial
proportion of flyer content (Canada’s Food Guide (CFG): 58.5%, Ontario’s Policy/Program
Memorandum no. 150 (PPM150): 45.3%, NOVA (not an acronym) Level of Processing
classification: 51.2%); however, the healthiest/un/minimally processed groups of items followed
(CFG: 33.6%, PPM150: 36.6%, NOVA: 27.8%). The only feature of the flyer that consistently
predicted healthiness was a food being on the first page of the flyer, and not store type,
geographic region, or publication year.