Nutrient costing

Abstract

For the purpose of computing changes in food cost over time as well as the planning of proper nutrition education and dietary counselling, the cost of important Ethiopian foods was collected in Addis Ababa markets for three and one-half years and computed for the amount of energy and protein yield per unit price. In general, cereals and legumes faired well in their contribution of these nutrients at low cost. Certain foods, such as vetch, sugar and marmalades were also found to contribute a significant amount of nutrients at low cost. Because of the neurotoxic content in vetch and the contribution of a single nutrient as an energy source in the case of the latter two, their utilization during meal planning is subject to careful consideration. Foods of animal origin are second to last in their nutrient contribution per cost although their nutrient density makes them important in consumer demand. Root crops and vegetables that are known for their bulk are at the bottom of the list of good nutrient contributors per cost.