Milk consumption up

THE QUANTITY of whole milk purchased by UK households between April 2003 and March 2004 increased by 5.8% compared to the preceding year, new DEFRA figures reveal.

In real terms the increase was from 529 to 559 grams per person per week.

For the whole category “Milk and cream” the increase was 1.7% – from 1990 to 2024 grams per person per week.

The amount of butter purchased decreased, however, by 6.5%.

The quantity of fruit and vegetables (excluding potatoes) purchased by UK households declined by 1.6%, whereas the decline for potatoes was 1%.

For cereals there was a decline of 3.4%.

Of all the food and drink items listed in DEFRA‘s new statistics, purchases of soft drinks and lagers/continental beers increased the most, by 10% and 15.9% respectively.