With loss of sense of taste and smell being among the most commonly experienced symptoms, consumers diagnosed with COVID-19 are modifying their eating habits as they adjust to their altered senses. As a result, people who experienced symptoms of COVID-19 are shifting away from certain foods and flavors at the grocery store and toward categories that emphasize immunity-boosting benefits in an effort to maintain or improve their health. 

In order to determine how infected shoppers are shifting as a result of lingering symptoms, Nielsen conducted a survey in December, 2020 to determine granular behavioral shifts among those who tested positive for COVID-19 and were still experiencing symptoms as a result of their diagnosis.