Food buying habits of people who buy wine or beer: cross sectional study.

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether people who buy wine buy healthier food items than those who buy beer. DESIGN Cross sectional study. SETTING Supermarkets in Denmark. Data Information on number, type of item, and total charge from 3.5 million transactions over a period of six months. RESULTS Wine buyers bought more olives, fruit and vegetables, poultry, cooking oil, and low fat cheese, milk, and meat than beer buyers. Beer buyers bought more ready cooked dishes, sugar, cold cuts, chips, pork, butter or margarine, sausages, lamb, and soft drinks than wine buyers. CONCLUSIONS Wine buyers made more purchases of healthy food items than people who buy beer.