Educational Gaps and Communication Priorities for the Healthfulness of Carbohydrate Foods

BACKGROUND: Although shared understanding between consumers and experts, and within experts themselves, is essential for healthier food choices, no existing method systematically prioritizes foods based on the magnitude of health education gaps. OBJECTIVE: To develop and apply a quantitative belief-mapping methodology to identify commonly consumed foods that warrant prioritization for research and nutrition communication. METHODS: Based on survey data and a meta-nutrition profiling system that represents transparent and harmonized expert healthfulness ratings, consumer misalignment and misperception relative to experts, as well as expert-only uncertainty, were quantified across 20 commonly consumed carbohydrate-rich foods. Foods were then ranked by jointly considering misalignment, expert uncertainty, and national consumption prevalence. RESULTS: Among the 20 foods evaluated, 85% received a consumer-to-expert Alignment Grade of C or D, and 75% received an Uncertain expert-only healthfulness classification. Among consumers, the most negatively misperceived foods-those rated less healthy by consumers than by experts-included all surveyed potato based foods (French fries, chips, and baked potatoes) and unbuttered, air-popped popcorn. In contrast, honey was the most positively misperceived food, being rated as healthier by consumers than by experts. Most foods (70%) exhibited a mixture of negative and positive misperception (≥15/85%). When misalignment, expert uncertainty, and high U.S. consumption were considered jointly, white rice, white bread, corn tortilla, and fruit juice with vitamin C emerged as priority foods for future research and nutrition education. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial consumer-expert misalignment and expert uncertainty were observed across commonly consumed carbohydrate-containing foods. This scalable belief-mapping methodology prioritizes foods for future nutrition research, communication efforts, and policy.