Short- and long-term shifts in food purchasing behaviours and nutrition disparities in the USA during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 14 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41562-026-02547-9 Using US household grocery data from 2017–2022, Hu et al. find that lockdowns temporarily shifted purchases towards less processed foods, while ultraprocessed food spending later rose above pre-pandemic levels.