Consumption of Carbohydrates in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Estimates of trends in supplies of carbohydrate-containing foods between 1880 and 1964 are presented which suggest that there may have been a sharp drop in carbohydrate consumption about the turn of the century, but that thereafter total consumption of carbohydrate has not changed much despite the partial switch from starch to sucrose. Longer term trends in consumption of wheat, sugar and potatoes (which provide about 90% of the carbohydrate in the British diet) are described. The distribution of United Kingdom sugar supplies in 1965 and prewar is compared, and the potential use of artificial sweeteners is briefly discussed. Changes in the consumption of carbohydrate foods by households are examined, using recent results of the National Food Survey and a prewar survey of households of different social class; all classes appear to have reduced their consumption of starch-containing foods and increased that of sugar.