We’ve been munching on more meat and less sweet treats lately, according to a 2023-24 report published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Friday.
Red meat and poultry rose by 2.3 per cent, and chocolate and confectionery dropped by 5.7 per cent less.
The surge in meat consumption led to 15.3 million tonnes of food and non-alcoholic drinks purchased at supermarkets and grocery stores during the thick of the cost-of-living crisis.
According to the report, these findings represent a 3.5 per cent increase in food consumption in the last month period (2021-22).
Chocolate and confectionery consumption fell for the first time in five years. (Source: Getty Images)
In the last five years, consumption of sweets and chocolate grew by 1.9 grams a day, marking this recent decline as a huge shift in eating habits for Australians.
The last time confectionery numbers were this low was during the COVID-19 period of 2019-20. However, the purchase of potato chips rose by 10 per cent.
ABS’ findings saw a drop in confectionery products and a rise in meat and dairy products. (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics)
Across the other major food groups, the largest decreases in consumption also included cereal products (2.2 per cent decline) and fats and oils (4.2 per cent decline), while snack foods (4.7 per cent increase), seed and nut products (4.5 per cent increase), and eggs (3.7 per cent increase) rose.
While fruit consumption also rose by 0.7 per cent, the ABS noted that fruit purchases have “generally been in decline” since 2019. Out of all fruit products, berries saw the biggest rise of 15.4 per cent since the last month period.
Despite the 3.5 per cent increase in food purchases, the ABS mentioned that the per capita consumption amount remained 2 per cent lower than the average consumption levels of 2018-19.
The post Aussies Are Eating Less Chocolate For The First Time In Years, Data Reveals appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
