While some support expanding the GST to cover fresh food, research shows lower prices may be more necessary.

A new study has highlighted the importance of lower prices as a mechanism to promote the purchase and consumption of fruit and vegetables.

It provides the first Australian evidence that cutting prices can be an effective way to get people to buy more fresh produce.

Deakin University's Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research (C-PAN) study “Supermarket Healthy Eating for Life” (SHELf) found that a 20 per cent price reduction in fruit and vegetables resulted in increased purchasing per household of 21 per cent for fruit and 12 per cent for vegetables over the price reduction period.

The study was one of the first in the world to test how price reductions in real world settings, where people select and purchase food, could influence purchases.

Crucially, the study also found that the price reduction worked equally well across both low and high income groups – good news for low income groups who are at particular risk of poor diets and associated ill health.

The study focused on female primary household shoppers.

“Women remain primarily responsible for food selection and preparation and as household food ‘gatekeepers’, represent important targets for nutrition interventions,” said Professor Kylie Ball from C-PAN.

“We also know that individuals from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds tend to have lower intakes of fruits and vegetables and higher intakes of energy-dense, nutrient poor foods than their more advantaged counterparts.

“High costs are often given as a reason that people don't eat more fruit and vegetables, but until now we didn't know much about how effective price reductions might be.

“A staggering 95 per cent of the Australian adult population do not eat enough fruit and vegetables for good health, so strategies to help people to eat more fruit and vegetables are urgently needed,” she said.

The SHELf study findings are very timely given the recent publication of the World Health Organisation report “Using price policies to promote healthier diets”.