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Abstract
This study examines the impacts of low carbohydrate information on the market demand of US meats, vegetables, and fruits. The study further explores the combined effects of cholesterol and carbohydrate information on the US meats. Effect of cholesterol information was also analyzed using updated cholesterol information index. Our analysis of low carbohydrate information on meat demand yields significant positive impact on poultry and significant negative influence on pork and beef. Study confirms the crucial role of low carbohydrate health information on the US market demand of meat. The result suggests significant negative impacts of cholesterol on beef and pork demand and significant positive influence on chicken demand. The flow of carbohydrate information lessens the magnitude of cholesterol health information elasticities. Our study yields mixed results, when combined effects of cholesterol and low carbohydrate information were examined on US meat demand. Analysis shows robust impacts of low carbohydrate information across all vegetables. Results favor the general and weighted carbohydrate information index over cubic and geometrically declining carbohydrate index. Analysis shows positive significant effects of low carbohydrate information on tomato and lettuce and significant negative effects on potato, mushroom, and broccoli. In fruits, the study suggests significant positive impacts of low carbohydrate information only on grape and lemon. However, a significantly negative effect exists on apple and banana. Majority of the estimated elasticities are consistent in terms of expected sign and magnitude of elasticities in different demand model specifications.