Canned Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Data Released

At the request of Congress, USDAs Economic Research Service (ERS) prepared an update to its 2008 report, Canned Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in the United States: Report to the United States Congress." The latest analysis tracks changes in canned fruit and vegetable expenditures since the previous report, and breaks down these expenditures by demographic characteristics of households, including age and ethnicity.

Using data culled through 2008 (as compared to data through 2005 used for the 2008 report), ERS researchers found that, in 2008, the average American consumed 10 pounds of canned fruit and 39 pounds of canned vegetables. Further, analysis of per capita data from the ERS Food Availability System revealed the following:

Between 1970 and 2008, the amount of fresh and processed fruit consumed rose 6 percent, and the amount of fresh and processed vegetables consumed increased 17 percent. Most of these increases were for fresh fruits and vegetables.

During 1970-2008, the canned fruit share of total fruit decreased from 11 to 6 percent, and the canned vegetable share of total vegetables fell from 30 to 24 percent. There has been little change in these statistics since the 2008 Report to Congress, which estimated these shares to be 6 and 25 percent, respectively, in 2005.

The estimated annual per capita food availability of canned fruit (adjusted for loss) fell 40 percent, from 16.7 pounds in 1970 to 10 pounds in 2008. Meanwhile, the estimated food availability of canned vegetables (adjusted for loss) fell 9 percent, from 42.5 pounds per capita in 1970 to 38.9 pounds in 2008.

Click here to download a PDF of the full report.