Families Warned Not to Scrimp on Their Five-a-Day As Cost of Living Rises ; Consumers Face Eat or Heat Dilemma

By Robin Turner

FAMILIES are being warned not to cut back on their five-a-day as the cost of fruit and vegetables rises.

Dieticians and economists last night said there was evidence that families are cutting down on healthy food spending as increasing food prices squeezes household budgets.

The price of fresh fruit and vegetables has shot up by 15.8% since the turn of the year.

A report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development predicts that average prices for vegetable oils is likely to rise by more than 80% in the next 10 years, sugar by 30%and beef and pork 20%.

Accountants Ernst & Young has warned that consumers are caught “in the perfect storm”, with rising food prices turning the screw on those having to make other dramatic cutbacks to cope.

Joel Segal, the firm’s head of consumer products, said families are slashing spending on other items to find the money for food.

“Consumers are facing tough economic trade-offs on whether to fuel stomachs or cars, to eat or to heat,” he said.

The overall cost of living as measured by the Consumer Prices Index, which includes anything from food to petrol, has jumped to 3%, far above the government’s 2% target. It is feared that inflation could climb to 4% this year.

Jacqui Lowdon, a dietitian at Wrexham Maelor Hospital and a spokeswoman for the British Dietetic Association, said there were a number of ways families could continue to buy fruit and vegetables without breaking their budgets.

She said: “Frozen vegetables for instance are frozen at their peak and are just as nutritious as fresh vegetables.

“People could make more than one trip a week to the supermarket, this way the fresh fruit and vegetables bought at the beginning of the week do not go off and end up in the bin.

“Bargains can be had by going to the supermarket at different times and getting healthy fresh food near its sell-by date.

“Also, why not grown your own?

Allotments are becoming increasingly popular and are a great place to grow fruit and vegetables virtually for free.

“If you can’t get to an allotment, grow some peppers, tomatoes or other foods in a pot in your house.

“Tinned fruit and vegetables can be healthy but watch for salt levels on information printed on the tin and choose fruit in its own juice rather than in syrup.

“Lastly, go for food that is in season as it will be cheaper.”

A spokesman for Cancer Research UK said: “Fruit and vegetables are likely to reduce the risk of many cancers, especially those of the digestive system, such as mouth, food pipe and stomach cancers. These foods are high in many important nutrients and are an excellent source of fibre.

“Our advice is to eat at least five different portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Eating fruit and vegetables with a wide variety of colours will help you get a broad range of vitamins and minerals.”

More than half of all British retailers reported higher selling prices in May this year-the largest number since May 1992.

Ernst & Young’s report Food for Thought, which was published earlier this year, warns that the problems fuelling rising food prices will get even worse.

These range from the rapidly rising world population to drought- like conditions in the major cereal-producing countries.

Shoppers paying 21% more for staple foods despite supermarkets’ efforts to keep costs down

Families are paying 21% more for staple food items compared with the same time last year.

Although prices have not increased since last month, consumers are facing steep price rises in the cost of many staple food items due to rising global commodity prices.

Research carried out by website mySupermarket.com found that a typical basket of 24 staple items, such as bread, milk and eggs, now costs around 21% more than it did in July last year.

The group said if this increase was applied to a typical pounds 100 weekly shop for a family of four, households would be spending an extra pounds 1,092 a year on food.

The figure is the same as June’s year-on-year increase, suggesting supermarkets are attempting to keep prices down, the group said.

The research found that Sainsbury’s had seen the biggest year-on- year price hikes, with its basket of 24 items costing 25.7% more on July 9 compared with a year earlier.

Sugar is defying the increases, with 500g of granulated sugar costing 11.2% less than it did last year. The cost of tomatoes and a litre of orange juice remain the same as last year.

Johnny Stern, director of mySupermarket.com, said: “The cost of staple items compared to last year has remained at an average increase of 21%.

“We’re still seeing phenomenal price rises in wheat and dairy- based products, however there is no question that supermarkets are doing what they can to help consumers combat the crunch.

“We would advise shoppers trying to stick to a tight budget to look out for better priced like-for-like items and special offers within the supermarket you already shop at. There are significant and regular savings to be had.”

Sweet benefits

Sugary snacks and fizzy drinks have been demonised for fuelling the obesity epidemic and contributing to children’s poor oral health.

Research now suggests that they could be beneficial for children’s memory and concentration at school.

But far from advocating a sugary free-for-all Professor David Benton, who carried out the research, has suggested that children should be eating small, regular snacks throughout the day, instead of a large lunch.

Prof Benton, who is based at Swansea University and is a specialist on the relationship between what we eat and how we think and feel, found that a sugary drink improved the memory and concentration of primary school pupils.

He said: “Children between the ages of five and 10 need twice as much glucose for their brains compared to an adult, but unlike other organs the brain does not store energy so it has to obtain it straight from the blood.”

Prof Benton said the results of the study have to be interpreted carefully and children should not be overfed.

Prof Benton said: “The message we would like to encourage is that children need to be fed a little and often, but the risk is that they get fed a lot leading to problems with obesity.”

As part of the study, Prof Benton gave 16 nine and 10-year-olds fruit squash, which contained either an artificial sweetener or glucose – a type of sugar.

When the children consumed glucose, he found their memory test scores improved by more than 10%.

The children also spent between 11 and 20 minutes longer on a task when asked to work individually in class, suggesting concentration was better.

But Mick Brooks, secretary general of the National Association of Head Teachers said: “It might be useful just before doing tests but in lessons it would be better to ensure children had good healthy meals at breakfast and lunch.”

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