Under recommended guideline fruit and vegetable consumption of the Germans stagnates

Although vegetarian or vegan nutrition has also become really popular in Germany, this obviously has no influence on the consumption of fruit and vegetables. Consumption is stagnating. In addition, per capita consumption is still below the recommended benchmark.
Vegetable consumption even dropped
Food trends such as vegan or vegetarian have found more and more followers in Germany in recent years. Nevertheless, they obviously did not give fruit and vegetables in Germany new popularity. On the contrary, consumption of fruits and vegetables is stagnant. As reported by the Berlin news agency Fruit Logistica (3 to 5 February), 85.5 kilograms of fresh fruit were purchased per household last year, 0.1 percent more than in 2014, at the same time as consumption fell fresh vegetables year-on-year by 1.1 percent to 69.9 kilograms.

Although it is healthy: not more people eat enough fruits and vegetables. Image: M.studio - fotolia

Per capita consumption of Germans too low
Per capita consumption remains well below the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended guideline of at least 400 grams of fruit and vegetables a day (146 kilograms per year). According to the German Society for Nutrition (DGE), it should be at least 400 grams of vegetables and 250 grams of fruit per day for the sake of health. The consumer information service aid gives tips on how to make the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. For example, by integrating them into the various meals: an apple in the muesli in the morning, carrots as a snack, a salad for lunch and vegetables in the evening as a side dish.

Fruits and vegetables keep healthy
Nutrition experts repeatedly point out how important such foods are for our health. Even in studies, new insights are always gained. Recent studies prove that fruits and vegetables keep the heart healthy. It has long been known that the higher the risk of stroke or heart attack, the higher the consumption of vegetables and fruit. This relationship is not clear for cancer, but is assumed. In addition, certain plant substances in fruits and vegetables help with weight loss, as researchers recently reported. Sufficient reasons to treat yourself more.

Already cut fruit has sales potential
As it says in the dpa message, the industry sees no connection between stagnant consumption and price fluctuations. "Consumers today often do not know how to properly prepare savoy cabbage or white cabbage," said Margareta Büning-Fesel, executive director of the nutrition advisory aid-info service. How to conjure delicious food from vegetables and that also quite simply, one can find out on different Internet portals. According to the information, the industry sees great potential in so-called convenience offerings, ie already cut fresh fruit. (Ad)