An application of a fuzzy-based optimisation model for selecting food products based on cost and nutrition

For consumers with limited financial resources, both the total healthiness of the food product and the affordability are equally critical determinants in choosing basic food products. The application of fuzzy based methods enables a systematic selection of food products based on cost and nutrition factors considering subjective judgements and imprecise nature of decision inputs. In this study, each type of nutrient and the price of food item are expressed as fuzzy sets. The total nutritional value based on the harmonic mean of nutrients in the food product indicates its degree of healthiness. The contextual knowledge and domain expertise in health and diet are integrated to generate a set of fuzzy rules that identifies best purchase decisions. By taking wholemeal bread brands in supermarkets as an example, the empirical application of the proposed method is illustrated. This method can accommodate more decision variables and has the flexibility to accommodate different socio-economic conditions and consumer requirements by changing input variables and fuzzy rules.