This week, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has published a report on food consumption habits in Spain, during 2017. It did not take long for the alarm to go off due to the way in which the data is processed by the Ministry. Do we still have a healthy and balanced diet? Where is Spanish consumption trending?
Increase consumption of pizza
The Ministry points out that the green salad is the most consumed first course in Spanish homes, but does not comment that it has been Reduced consumption by 1% from 2016 to 2017. In addition, the fact that salad is the most common thing in our homes does not mean that we have a healthy and balanced diet.
Eg pizza It occupies second place in the ranking, which has also increased from one year to the next. From here, a very different reading can be made from the one proposed by the Ministry: are we not facing a trend of increasing the intake of ultra-processed foods?
If we realize, the consumption of: tomato salad, chicken breast, hake and Jewish. Instead, I have increased that of: pasta soup and omelette; which, together with pizza, are usually pre-cooked dishes.
https://twitter.com/mapagob/status/1014083269456023553
How is the Spanish shopping basket usually?
Dairy, fruit, vegetables and bottled water It usually occupies our shopping cart to a greater extent. Although we give more importance to protein foods such as meat and fish.
Although it is true that it does not specify what makes up "the rest of the diet", we assume that it refers to ultra-processed products that cause cardiovascular problems to which many Spaniards are subjected.
The Ministry has wanted to show that we have a healthy and balanced diet, based on the Mediterranean diet; but there are many relevant data that they have not wanted to reveal.
Meat is the product with the largest budget concentrated in the shopping basket of Spanish households, while milk and its derivatives, fruits and vegetables, and fresh potatoes are those with the highest volume #FoodConsumption pic.twitter.com/rK6GBh7hKx
- Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (@mapagob) July 3, 2018
You can take a look at the full report here: Ministry report.