Highlights

On a per capita basis, the Canadian diet in 2008 included more tea, yogurts, breakfast cereals, berries, processed fruits, asparagus, poultry meat and wine, according to the 2008 snapshot of food available for consumption.

The total daily intake of calories per person fell to 2,382 calories, a decline of 131 calories since the peak recorded in 2001. This reflects lower amounts of oils, red meats and soft drinks in the diet.

Estimates on food availability have been adjusted to account for losses in cooking, storage and waste that occur in homes, restaurants and institutions while preparing and processing food.

Total available fruit -- fresh as well as processed -- rose to 47.5 kilograms (kg) per person, a record high. Berries, in particular blueberries and cranberries, are becoming more popular. Canadians had 5.4 litres of yogurt in their diet in 2008, more than twice as much as what they had a decade ago.

Total milk continued its downward pattern that began at the end of the 1980s. In 2008, Canadians drank 57.7 litres of milk per person, down 12.3 litres from 70.0 litres in 1988.

In the last decade, Canadians have increased the amount of poultry meat in their diet by 1.9 kg, while the amount of red meat declined by 3.7 kg. Poultry meat available for consumption amounted to 13.6 kg per person in 2008, but this was still far short of the per capita level of 23.3 kg for red meat.

Breakfast cereals were more popular than ever, reaching 4.1 kg per person last year. Rice available for consumption rose by 1.8 kg from 2007 to reach 7.0 kg per person in 2008. This was, however, offset by a lower intake of wheat flour which fell 2.3 kg to 43.7 kg.

Canadians ate 79.5 kg of vegetables -- fresh as well as processed -- per person, a decline of 4.0 kg from 2005. Even so, vegetables such as asparagus, eggplant, kohlrabi and sweet potatoes are slowly but steadily increasing in the diet.

Refined sugar in the diet increased by 1.0 kg last year to 23.1 kg. However, the population had less honey and maple syrup in their diet as supplies declined and prices rose.

Oils and fats, including butter, salad oils, shortening and margarine, maintained their downward trend last year.

With respect to beverages, Canadians aged 15 years old and over drank 15.0 litres of wine per person last year, five times more than they did in the early 1960s. Per capita consumption of tea amounted to 79.4 litres, while consumption of soft drinks fell from 76.4 litres to 73.2 litres from 2007 to 2008.

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