Salad-dodger UK: Just 7% of our weekly shop goes on greens

BRITAIN is a nation of ‘salad dodgers’ – with fresh produce making up only 7.2 per cent of our weekly shopping.

The amount spent on fruit and veg is tiny when considered against official recommendations that our diet should consist of 20 per cent of such food.

Scots are the worst at 6.8 per cent of purchases, with the Welsh at 7.1 per cent and English on 7.3 per cent.

Health experts say that as many as 20,000 premature deaths annually in the UK could be avoided if we all ate more veg.

The analysis comes from The Food Foundation, which says previous healthy eating initiatives have failed. It is calling on retailers to make changes to store layouts and take other radical steps to push veg.

These include putting fruit and veg displays at busy locations throughout supermarkets, including apples rather than sweets at checkouts. It also suggests trying to make vegetables more appealing by giving them exotic and attractive names. US research found sales of veg soared when they were presented as being indulgent rather than healthy or wholesome.

Examples included ‘twisted citrus-glazed carrots’ and ‘dynamite chilli and tangy lime- seasoned beets’. Historically, this type of marketing has been reserved for processed food and drink, packed with calories, fat and sugar.

This fed an obesity crisis which has driven increases in Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancers. Ideas on how to boost sales of fresh, frozen and tinned vegetables, fruit and salad are included in a new guide for retailers drawn up by the foundation.

Other suggestions include skewing loyalty card rewards to encourage people to buy vegetables as well as regular money-off promotions in stores, online and on social media.

It suggests devoting more space to fresh produce and making sure meal deals include a high proportion of vegetables.

The foundation said stores in Denmark increased sales of vegetables by 400 per cent by putting fruit and veg in displays in the middle of the aisles throughout a store. Director Anna Taylor, said: ‘Education programmes designed to get people to eat more veg have had limited success. We need to change tack and look at all parts of the food supply chain.’