Sir, - Prof. Mike Gibney of TCD (The Irish Times, February 4th) is quoted as saying that the Republic has one of the lowest levels of vegetable consumption in Europe. This is very much at odds with the results of an independently commissioned survey undertaken on behalf of An Bord Glas in December 1998. A nationally representative sample of the population were asked about their consumption of vegetables and fruit with the following results:
73 per cent of respondents say they eat vegetables at least once every day.
33 per cent of respondents say they eat more vegetables than two to three years ago.
Consumption of pre-prepared vegetables is also increasing significantly, especially among younger consumers.
On what type of research is Prof. Gibney's statement based and how many people were surveyed?
With regard to claims that Irish consumers "ignore research" about the disease-prevention benefits of vegetables and are "complacent", our research again gave the following opposing results:
The top two reasons cited by respondents for eating more vegetables nowadays is that they are good for you and, particularly, among the eight to 17-year-old age group, respondents say they enjoy vegetables more now.
In general, respondents identify the nutritional content and health attributes of vegetables as the main reason for eating them.
Our research findings are also borne out by leading health-promoting organisations and by retail sales of fresh vegetables, which increased by 14 per cent in 1998 to £187 million. - Yours, etc., Teresa Brophy,
Development Marketing Executive, An Bord Glas, Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2.