The aim of the article was to assess the level and dynamics of consumption deficiency of various classes of food products across socio-economic groups of Polish households in 2005-13. The research drew on the microdata from the Social Diagnosis studies of 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013. All considered food classes showed the lowest level of deficiency among self-employed, followed by employees and farmers, a relatively high one among retirees and pensioners, and the highest among the living on unearned sources. The most acute deficiencies involved fresh and processed fish, and despite notable improvement over the analyzed period, still in 2013 almost one in four farmer, retiree, or pensioner households, and one in two living on unearned sources, had to forgo the expense due to financial constraints.