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Posted on Fri, Aug. 29, 2008

Where do people spend the most on junk food? Not where you think

Kathleen Purvis | Charlotte Observer

last updated: August 29, 2008 07:53:36 AM

In the list of things that draw attention to Charlotte, here's one you may not want to read:

On a list of the 10 U.S. cities where people spend the most amount of their yearly grocery bill on unhealthy food, Charlotte is No. 5.

A study of product purchases found that in the Charlotte metro area – defined as Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord – we spend 10.9 percent of our annual food dollars in the unhealthy category.

That would be things like cake and brownie mixes, cookies, candies, frozen pizza, full-fat mayonnaise, chips and salty snacks, soft drinks, ice cream, bacon and sausage.

We don't do as badly as the No.1 spot – Minneapolis-St. Paul, where people spend 11.5 percent.

But of the 10 cities at the top, six are in the South. And among those, Charlotte is behind only Richmond, Va., second on the list.

Read the complete story at charlotteobserver.com