Health food users in two Texas cities. Nutritional and socioeconomic implications

Health food buyers--both casual purchasers and confirmed customers of health food stores--were surveyed in Dallas and Houston. In both groups, users were generally in the middle class economically and in the active productive age brackets. Users in lower income groups spent larger proportions of their food budget in health food stores. The majority of confirmed users did so in the belief that such foods would provide health benefits, as health food proponents claim. Sixty-six per cent of the general public reported using vitamin and mineral supplements, compared with 93% of the confirmed health food users; the latter usually bought their supplements in health food stores, where megavitamins are likely to be promoted. Users among the general public, on the other hand, purchased supplements in drug stores and supermarkets as a rule.