Fresh fruit and veg consumption in the UK has dropped to worrying new lows, according to the latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS), prompting urgent calls for stronger government and business intervention from campaigners including The Food Foundation.
Published on Thursday, the 2019–2023 report reveals that just 17 per cent of adults now meet the government’s ‘5 A Day’ recommendation, down significantly from 33 per cent in the previous NDNS cycle. Among children aged 11 to 18, fewer than 1 in 10 (9%) are meeting the target, with the average intake just 2.8 portions per day.
Rebecca Tobi, senior business and investor engagement manager at The Food Foundation, described the figures as “alarming and frankly profoundly depressing”, warning that fruit and veg should be “the absolute cornerstone of a healthy diet”.
While the report notes a change in methodology that may partly explain the apparent drop, it also suggests the decline reflects real-world barriers, namely food insecurity and reduced availability during the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing cost of living crisis.
The findings are likely to refocus attention on the government’s long-awaited food strategy from Defra. “[The] data not only shows that the new Defra food strategy is very much needed,” said Tobi, “but that it absolutely must take bold action if it is to have any chance of improving the quality of UK diets.”
The Food Foundation is calling for mandatory health reporting by major retailers and manufacturers. “As a key first step, the government should make it mandatory for all large food businesses to report on what proportion of their sales are coming from healthier food and fruit and veg,” said Tobi. “This is something that major businesses such as Danone and Tesco are also now calling for.”
High fat, sugar and low fibre diets persist
The NDNS also highlighted ongoing concerns around saturated fat, sugar and fibre intakes. On average, saturated fats made up over 12 per cent of energy consumption for both children and adults, well above the recommended 10 per cent limit, while 91 per cent of children and 81 per cent of adults exceeded recommended intakes of free sugars.
Average intakes of free sugars were 10.5 per cent of energy for children and 10 per cent for adults, whereas the recommended limit is 5 per cent. Girls aged 11 to 18 years had the highest intake (12% of energy).
Meanwhile, fibre intake remains well below recommended levels. A staggering 96 per cent of teenagers and adults failed to meet government targets (at least 30g per day for adults and 15 to 25g per day for children depending on their age), raising risks of long-term health issues linked to poor gut health and diet-related disease.
The NDNS findings are expected to feed directly into food and nutrition policy and may influence future regulation on product reformulation, labelling and in-store marketing practices.
Last month, a coalition of food businesses, charities and health advocates called on the government to address what they describe as a "national scandal" of poor access to fruit and vegetables across the UK, with one in ten deprived areas in the UK classified as food deserts that lack access to fresh produce.
