Biganzoli Fabrizio, Caldeira Carla, Dias Joana, De Laurentiis Valeria, Leite Joao, Wollgast Jan, Sala Serenella
UniSystems, Via Michelangelo Buonarroti 39, 20145 Milano, Italy.
European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Via Enrico Fermi 2749, 21027 Ispra, Italy.
Foods. 2025 Aug 12;14(16):2798. doi: 10.3390/foods14162798.
The assessment of food system sustainability requires a profound understanding of the evolution of food production and consumption. Monitoring the transition towards healthier and sustainable diets is crucial for supporting future interventions. This study explores market sales data as an input to investigate and compare current dietary trends in the European Union Member States over 14 years. By analysing consumption trends of major food product categories, including animal-based and plant-based foods, we identified two distinct clusters of countries with opposite dietary patterns. Our analysis explored not only major food product categories essential for healthy living but also superfluous foods (i.e., discretionary) to provide a broader understanding of dietary habits. In particular, our results show that countries reducing consumption of animal-based foods also exhibit a reduction in consumption of discretionary products, such as alcoholic beverages and soft drinks, highlighting opportunities for synergies between environmental and health policies. This research provides valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders aiming to promote the uptake of healthy and sustainable diets and supports the development of targeted strategies to support the transition towards more environmentally friendly and healthy food systems.
对食品系统可持续性的评估需要对食品生产和消费的演变有深刻的理解。监测向更健康、更可持续饮食的转变对于支持未来的干预措施至关重要。本研究探讨将市场销售数据作为一种输入，以调查和比较欧盟成员国14年来当前的饮食趋势。通过分析主要食品类别（包括动物性食品和植物性食品）的消费趋势，我们确定了两个具有相反饮食模式的不同国家集群。我们的分析不仅探讨了健康生活所必需的主要食品类别，还探讨了多余食品（即自由裁量食品），以更广泛地了解饮食习惯。特别是，我们的结果表明，减少动物性食品消费的国家，其自由裁量产品（如酒精饮料和软饮料）的消费也有所减少，这凸显了环境政策与健康政策之间协同增效的机会。这项研究为旨在促进健康和可持续饮食的政策制定者和利益相关者提供了宝贵的见解，并支持制定有针对性的战略，以支持向更环保、更健康的食品系统过渡。
