A comparison of the nutritional quality of products offered by the top packaged food and beverage companies in Canada

Table 2 The range in mean Health Star Ratings (HSRs) of companies’ products and the results of Kruskal-Wallis tests to compare the HSRs of products offered by different companies, overall and by food category^a

Food category	Products (n)	Companies (n)	Minimum^b	Maximum^c	P-value^d
OVERALL	8277	22	1.9	3.6	< 0.001
Bakery products	1459	12	1.0	3.3	< 0.001
Beverages	469	13	1.3	5.0	< 0.001
Cereals and other grain products	454	9	2.0	4.5	< 0.001
Combination dishes	619	9	2.0	4.1	< 0.001
Dairy products and substitutes	989	11	1.8	4.5	< 0.001
Dessert toppings and fillings	26	4	0.6	2.2	0.004^d
Desserts	404	7	2.0	3.2	< 0.001
Eggs and egg substitutes	16	2	3.9	4.0	N/A^d
Fats and oils	331	9	0.7	5.0	< 0.001
Fruit and fruit juices	582	10	1.4	3.5	< 0.001
Legumes	79	3	4.5	4.9	0.57^d
Marine and fresh water animals	135	2	3.8	3.9	0.076
Meat, poultry, their products and substitutes	484	3	2.3	2.9	< 0.001
Miscellaneous category	215	12	0.5	2.9	< 0.001
Nuts and seeds	83	3	3.1	4.5	0.002
Potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams	53	3	3.5	4.1	0.016
Salads	61	2	3.7	4.1	< 0.001
Sauces, dips, gravies and condiments	497	11	1.0	3.4	< 0.001
Snacks	376	10	1.1	3.0	< 0.001
Soups	293	4	3.2	3.4	< 0.001
Sugars and sweets	315	9	0.7	2.5	< 0.001
Vegetables	337	8	1.5	4.4	< 0.001

^aFood categories are defined in Health Canada’s Table of Reference Amounts for Food [32]
^bThe minimum mean Health Star Rating of a company’s products, overall or within a food category
^cThe maximum mean Health Star Rating of a company’s products, overall or within a food category
^dP-value based on Kruskal-Wallis test that excluded companies with < 5 products in that food category

ISSN: 1471-2458