Did you know? Fifty official food facts
.The British diet is changing; consumption of milk, fresh meat and potatoes has fallen over the past 30 years2. Meals are less bound to particular...
- 1.The British diet is changing; consumption of milk, fresh meat and potatoes has fallen over the past 30 years
- 2. Meals are less bound to particular times - people are eating when and where it is convenient
- 3. Consumers increasingly want their food to be healthier, more convenient and more ethical as well as to taste good
- 4. There is growing consumer interest in the quality of food, its provenance and its impact on ourselves and on the planet
- 5. However, there is a gap between what people do and what they say - positive attitudes to healthy eating and the environment seen in consumer research are not matched by spending patterns
- 6. The food and drink industry accounts for seven per cent of national output and provides 3.7 million jobs
- 7. Total spending on food is estimated to be worth £121bn a year
- 8. An average of £11.41 per person per week is spent on eating out
- 9. Pub catering accounts for nearly a quarter of the eating out market, the biggest single sector
- 10. Consumers are demanding a wider range of international choices when they eat out, along with more fresh, local and seasonal ingredients
- 11. UK spending on food has increased five-fold in 30 years while national disposable income has increased 12-fold
- 12. The biggest price rises since 1998 have been for lamb, some fruit and vegetables, ham, back bacon and white bread
- 13. Consumption of ready meals has trebled since 1997
- 14. There is growing enthusiasm for farmers' or street markets, organic, local and seasonal food, and assured provenance not only from Britain, but also from countries with a strong food identity such as France and Italy
- 15. There are 550 farmers' markets and 4,000 farm shops in the UK. Turnover from direct selling by farmers through these methods, pick-your-own and box schemes are thought to be worth £2bn per year
- 16. The proportion of consumers saying they would be willing to pay more for local food has increased from 14 per cent to 21 per cent in two years
- 17. The proportion saying they would pay more for organic food has dropped over the same period from 24 per cent to 21 per cent
- 18. Twenty per cent of consumers think organic food is healthier and safer
- 19. Forty per cent of people define 'local' as food from within a 10-mile radius of their home
- 20. Fifty-seven per cent of people say the main reason for buying local food is to support local businesses, while just 11 per cent say the main reason is that local food will be fresher
- 21. There is a resurgence of interest in seasonal food, with two-thirds of people now taking steps to buy seasonally
- 22. A small proportion of the UK's food comes from the developing world but the livelihoods of a large number of people are dependent on that trade
- 23. Consumers spend less as a proportion of their income on eating at home than they did over 40 years ago - but roughly the same on eating out
- 24. Climate change is expected to impact on food production in the decades ahead because of changes in temperature and rainfall and the increased frequency of severe weather events
- 25. After a long period of declining real prices, the prices of key agricultural commodities increased markedly in 2006-07
- 26. Grain stocks are at historically low levels and though farmers are expected to respond to price signals by increasing output, a period of higher average prices and greater volatility in food markets is forecast
- 27. The food chain contributes 18 per cent of total UK greenhouse gas emissions
- 28. Livestock production has a disproportionate impact on greenhouse gas emissions, land use and water pollution
- 29. Twenty-five per cent of greenhouse gases from livestock production is caused by 'enteric fermentation' - farting
- 30. Fish stocks continue to suffer from over-exploitation and poor fishing practices
- 31. An estimated 1.3 million tonnes of fish caught in the North East Atlantic each year are discarded for being too small or the wrong species
- 32. Trawling in the North Sea reduces total biomass on the seafloor by 39 per cent
- 33. Research on life cycle impacts of a range of food products shows that the argument that local food has less environmental impact is weak and that global sourcing can be better for some foods
- 34. The current costs of diet-related ill health to the NHS and society at large are probably in excess of £10bn per year
- 35. Treating malnutrition (mainly in the elderly) has more financial impact on society than treating obesity. Four out of 10 people over 65 admitted to hospital are already malnourished
- 36. However, obesity has trebled in 20 years. Nearly a quarter of adults and about 10 per cent of children are obese in England today and projections suggest it will increase in the years ahead
- 37. The diet of the average child in the UK is much like a typical adult's diet but proportionally higher in sugars and saturated fat. The largest single source of added sugar in the average child's diet is soft drinks
- 38. More than 300,000 cases of food poisoning are reported each year
- 39. The trend towards eating out could increase this figure because food poisoning events are commonly traced to catering establishments
- 40. In 2006 around 700 people died as a direct result of something they ate - this was mostly due to food poisoning, but also included up to 200 choking deaths and up to 10 deaths from allergic reactions to food
- 41. Campylobacter are the commonest cause of food poisoning but listeria causes the most deaths
- 42. A 19.2 per cent cut in food-borne diseases between 2000 and 2005 saw 1.5 million cases avoided
- 43. In 2006 imported foods accounted for 80 per cent of food alerts in the UK
- 44. 1,082 commercial consignments were rejected at UK ports on food safety grounds
- 45. People avoid foods because of allergies, religion, weight loss and medical reasons. People principally avoid fat, sugar and salt when concerned about their health
- 46. Forty per cent say they snack between meals, and of those, 41 per cent claim to snack on fresh fruit or vegetables
- 47. The majority of UK adults (55 per cent) feel under time pressure on a regular basis - the figure rising to nearly 70 per cent for those with families
- 48. Eating out of home during the week is seen as a key way to 'indulge' in food because it avoids shopping, cooking and tidying up
- 49. 6.5 million tonnes a year of waste - 10 per cent of all UK industrial and commercial waste - comes from the food industry
- 50. The main sources of waste in the food chain are food and packaging
