A CSIRO report on consumer eating habits has delivered insights into the human consumption of vegetables and fruit. This report was produced as part of MT16008 Consumption of Juiced Fruit and Vegetables Data Analytics, funded by Hort Innovation with funds from the multi-industry levy and contributions from the Australian Government.

Through the CSIRO Healthy Diet Score, the project surveyed almost 150,000 Australians and found that seven out of 10 adults report to consume fruit each day.

64 per cent of adults reported to consume cooked vegetables (such as broccoli, cauliflower and pumpkin) each day, 54 per cent consume salad vegetables (such as lettuce, cucumber and capsicum) each day and 41 per cent consume starchy vegetables (such as potato, sweet potato and corn) each day.

However, juice is not as popular. Over half of all adults (57 per cent) report to never consume fruit juice, and 83 per cent report to never consume vegetable juice.

An analysis of the survey data also allowed investigators to find:

• The proportion of respondents who meet the fruit and vegetable consumption guidelines
• How much variety they consumed
• How various segments of the population differ
• The importance of fruit and vegetable intake on overall Diet Score.
• The research revealed a significant opportunity to grow consumption, with over half of Australian adults not currently eating enough fruit – and over 65 per cent not eating enough veg – to meet Australia’s dietary guidelines.

Download the full report here.