Australians are eating more red meat and poultry while cutting back on sweet treats, amid a cost-of-living crisis.
Australians ate 2.3 per cent more red meat and poultry in 2023-24 compared to the previous financial year, according to a new report released on Friday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The surging meat intake contributed to a total of 15.3 million tonnes of food and non-alcoholic beverages consumed within that period.
But notably, chocolate consumption fell by 5.7 per cent, marking a major shift from the previous five years where chocolate consumption grew by 1.9 grams per day.
The last time similar lows were witnessed was during 2019-2020, or just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
One US 2021 study by agricultural company Cargil found one in three shoppers reported increasing their chocolate consumption during the pandemic.
The most recent drop also coincides with an all-time high in global cocoa prices in October last year.
Other confectionery (mainly lollies) declined by 0.2 grams per capita per day.
But not all snacks lost favour with Australians as potato chips saw a 10 per cent rise.
Across the five major food groups (vegetables, fruit, cereal products, meats, and milk products), cereal based products saw the biggest decrease by 2.2 per cent.
While fruit consumption was up by 0.7 per cent, the report notes fruit consumption has “generally been in decline” over the past six years.
Berries though, looked to buck the trend with a per capita increase of 2.9 grams per day.
‘While most fruit categories have seen a fall since 2018-19, we’re eating 24 per cent more berries than we did six years ago,” ABS health statistics spokesperson Paul Atyeo said.
More bachelor’s handbags, bottled water
One of the more surprising elements of the report is the boom in meat consumption — with poultry making up 44 per cent of that intake.
“Compared to six years ago, we’re eating 13 per cent more poultry per person, while beef, lamb, and pork consumption has risen by 1.8 per cent,” Mr Atyeo said.
“At the same time, we’ve been eating less processed meats which have dropped 12 per cent since 2018-19.”
The reports link the drop in meat like sausages and bacon to a concurrent decline in the contribution of processed meat to sodium consumption by one per cent.
Similarly, while Australians were drinking less fruit juices and fruit drinks, they did increase their bottled water and energy drink intake.
It should be noted the ABS data does not account for tap water.
Still failing to eat recommended serves
Despite a rebound from last year’s report, Australians on average still failed to meet the recommended minimum daily servings of five major food groups — something consistent over a six-year period.
Australians on average ate just 2.21 serves of vegetables and legumes/beans in 2023-24, compared to the recommended minimum of 5.0 servings.
In the 2023-24 period, just over two-thirds of fruit servings came from fresh, frozen or canned fruit products.
Despite the percentage reflecting an all-time high in fruit intake, the report notes it is simply indicative of less Australians consuming dried fruit and fruit juice.
The ABS report aims to measure “apparent consumption”, which is the amount of food and non-alcoholic beverages purchased from supermarkets and smaller food retail outlets.
This does not include food purchased from fast food outlets, cafes and restaurants.
It also does not include food obtained via home-growing, foraging, hunting or fishing.
