Using Scanner Data for Food Policy Research

Mary K. Muth, PhD, is director of RTI International's Food, Nutrition, and Obesity Policy Research Program. Muth conducts research studies for government agencies and other organizations to analyse the impacts of policies, regulations, and other initiatives affecting food and agriculture. She specializes in the areas of nutrition, food security, food waste, food pricing, food labelling, food reformulation, and food safety. She has extensive experience analysing food availability, purchase, and consumption data and developing economic models of the impacts of food policy. Dr. Muth is also an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at North Carolina State University.

Chen Zhen, PhD, is an associate professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Georgia. He holds the UGA Athletic Association professorship in Food Choice, Obesity, and Health Economics. He develops advanced and practical statistical models of consumer food purchase behaviour using scanner data to study policy issues such as sugar-sweetened beverage taxes, shelf nutrition labelling, food costs, and food assistance programs.

Shawn Karns is a Senior Public Health Analyst in RTI International's Food, Nutrition, and Obesity Policy Research Program where she has developed extensive experience analysing store-based and household-based scanner data for food policy research. She has served as data manager and senior analyst on several studies using scanner data, including to analyse the effects of hypothetical restrictions on foods purchased using SNAP benefits; to estimate the costs of labelling and reformulating foods; and to assess the statistical properties of IRI store-based scanner data, household-based scanner data, and other product characteristics data.

Abigail Okrent, PhD, is a research economist at the US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service where she investigates the role of food and farm policies on food choices and diet quality. Her current research uses household and retail scanner data to analyse determinants of food choice and its implications for health outcomes.