Britons eating fewer veg despite 5-a-day campaign

Britons are eating fewer vegetables despite millions of pounds being spent on the 5-a-day campaign, according to a new report.

New figures from the fresh produce organisation Freshfel Europe reveal British consumers ate one per cent more fruit in 2008 compared with the previous five-year average but vegetable consumption plummeted by 11 per cent, The Grocer reported.

Overall European fruit consumption fell one per cent in that period, with vegetable consumption dropping by 14 per cent. Europeans ate an average of 439lb (199kg) of fruit and vegetables per person in 2008, an eight per cent drop.

The figures follow several years of Government-promoted healthy eating campaigns including 5-a-day, Change4Life and the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme.

The Department of Health has spent £3.3 million on the 5-a-day campaign alone in the past four years, a spokeswoman told the trade magazine.

Today's figures follow a study released earlier this week casting doubt on the cancer-preventing benefits of eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.