Evolution of nutritional quality in the US: Evidence from the ready-to-eat cereal industry

•The average nutrition quality in the ready-to-eat cereal market has been on a declining trend since late 1980s.•The nutrition quality has reversed its trend since early 2000s but is still worse than late 1980s.•Consumption gravitates towards less healthy options available in the market.•The decline in nutritional quality intake cannot be attributed to pricier or a limited availability of healthier options.

We construct historical nutrition quality indices for the ready-to-eat cereal industry and find that: (1) there exists a discrepancy between the nutrition quality of available products and that of the actual intake, (2) nutrition quality declined between 1988 and 2001 but has been increasing since then (although levels are still lower than in 1988), and (3) the decline in nutritional quality intake cannot be attributed to pricier or a limited availability of healthier options.