New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show discretionary foods accounted for 37.5 per cent of dietary energy in Australia in 2024\u201325.<\/p>\n
The updated Consumption of Selected Foodstuffs<\/a> figures show that more than one in three kilojoules consumed in the national diet came from foods recommended to be eaten occasionally<\/a>, like meat pies, biscuits, chocolate and beer.<\/p>\n Australian dietary guidelines say one serve of discretionary food is about 600 kilojoules.<\/p>\n The new figures show more than 3,000 kilojoules per person per day came from discretionary foods.<\/p>\n The figures also showed Australians fell well short of recommended intake levels across the five major food groups: grains and cereals, vegetables and legumes, fruit, milk, yoghurt and cheese, and lean meats and alternatives.<\/p>\n Australians’ consumption of fruit and lean meats came closest to the recommendations.<\/p>\n Australians eat 1.3 serves a day of fruit, but that is still below the recommended 2.0 serves. For lean meats, Australians consume 1.8 serves a day, below the recommended 2.5 serves.<\/p>\n Australians are also simply buying more, with food and non-alcoholic beverage sales rising by 341,600 tonnes from the year before.<\/p>\n Among drinks, bottled water consumption rose 5 per cent and soft drinks rose 2.6 per cent on a daily per person basis.<\/p>\n Coconut water and energy drinks were among the fastest-growing categories, rising 46 per cent and 17.8 per cent respectively.<\/p>\n