Do we always go for cheaper food?

If an item of food is cheaper in the supermarket or store does that make us more likely to eat it?

A new cut price store has just opened in Wellington and is offering junk food - chocolate for up to half the price of what it is in regular supermarkets (read the story from the Dominion Post here). This has opened debate on is it right to have this kind of store when we are trying to encourage new Zealander's to have better diets?

I know through working with clients who are trying to lose or manage their weight that the environment plays a huge role. I know that people can choose where to shop and that is great, but I also know that for some people the temptation is just too great to shop at places like this. What is also harder is that once you have walked into the place it can be hard to say no to all the extras that are on display, even when you didn't intend to buy them.

I am a big advocate of everything in moderation but lets just look at how could it affect your daily intake if you were to indulge:

As a snack - 10 squares of Milk Chocolate will give you 1116kJ, 14.8g fat (thats almost 3 teaspoons), 9g of that is saturated, and 28.2g sugar (5.6 teaspoons). If you have a peice of fruit instead e.g. an apple thats ~250kJ, nil fat and ~10g sugar. A much better choice - but would you choose the apple over the chocolate if the chocolate was less than half price?