Fruit and vegetables sold in the UK are ‘half as nutritious’ as 80 years ago, study shows

Fruit and vegetables sold in the UK now contain half the amount of some key nutrients they did in 1940, a major study reveals.

Reduced levels of iron, magnesium, sodium and copper mean Britons are at greater risk of malnutrition, experts warn.

An increased reliance on imported produce and a shift to industrial farming and higher-yielding varieties may be to blame.

Researchers from Coventry University examined the nutrients in 28 types of fruit and vegetables, including potatoes and bananas, sold in the UK in 1940, 1991 and 2019.

The analysis revealed that average sodium levels fell 52 percent over the period, iron 51 percent and copper 49 percent.

Magnesium levels fell 10 percent, potassium 5 percent and calcium 2.5 percent.

Writing in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, the researchers said that “many people” do not eat a sufficiently varied diet, and adolescents in particular have poor diets.

Researchers from Coventry University examined the nutrients in 28 types of fruit and vegetables, including potatoes and bananas, sold in the UK in 1940, 1991 and 2019 (file photo)

Most varieties of fruits and vegetables consumed today have been bred to improve productivity and profitability, and “this focus on yield has largely ignored implications for nutritional quality,” the researchers say.

They ask ministers to regularly monitor the nutritional quality of fruit and vegetables and any variations between varieties and production methods.

Helena Gibson-Moore of the British Nutrition Foundation said the “alarming” results would have “little overall dietary nutritional impact” on a healthy, balanced diet.