UB Study Tests Prefilled Grocery Carts for Families
A University at Buffalo team is testing whether online grocery carts preloaded with healthy recipe ingredients can improve family food choices.
Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Nutrition
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University at Buffalo researchers have launched a study on prefilled online grocery carts for families with young children at risk for obesity. Half of the roughly 200 recruited families will receive carts preloaded with recipe ingredients, with provision continuing for six months.
Why it matters
The study aims to make healthy food choices feasible, appealing and automatic for families at risk for obesity. Repeated exposure to nutritious foods may help young children develop healthier food preferences.
The study is backed by a $4 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and builds on a four-week pilot with Instacart involving families with 2-to-5-year-old children. Whether the effect persists beyond the six-month provision period remains unknown until follow-up assessments at six and 12 months.
The players
University at Buffalo
A public research university in Buffalo, New York, whose researchers developed the Traffic Light Diet and lead this study.
Stephanie Anzman-Frasca
The principal investigator leading the University at Buffalo study on prefilled online grocery carts for families.
Instacart
An online grocery delivery and pickup platform that partnered with UB on the four-week pilot study.
The details
Families receive recipes drawn from the Traffic Light Diet, an evidence-based diet developed at UB, and half of them also receive online grocery carts prefilled with the recipe ingredients. Families pay for groceries as usual and may alter their carts.
Timeline
Four-week pilot study conducted with Instacart before the current study.
Recipe and prefilled cart provision continues for six months.
Follow-up assessments of grocery nutritional quality occur at six and 12 months.
Big Picture
The study extends the Traffic Light Diet, an evidence-based diet developed at the University at Buffalo, from dietary guidance into a real-world test of how grocery purchasing shapes family nutrition. It tests whether making healthy choices automatic at checkout can succeed where recipe instruction alone has fallen short.
Families with young children may eventually see grocery tools that stock healthy recipe ingredients at checkout. Until results from the six- and 12-month assessments are published, parents can keep building meals around whole-food ingredients as they shop.
The takeaway
Making healthy foods the default in the grocery cart may matter more than simply handing families recipes. Watch for the six- and 12-month results to see whether that default lasts.
Further reading
For more on healthy eating strategies, explore Nutrition coverage on Wisevoter.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Niagara Gazette.
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