Should Indians Worry About this?

Sauces, 63 dressings, condiments 77 54 45 75 F Free Yogu Dairy 298 315 265 146 products 147 49 Bakery 108 goods 51 53 127 ALAC Pasta 12 32 149 175 433 Soup and 77 canned food 28 17 117 19 Dried processed food includes packaged rice, but not rice sold loose, which makes China's figure appear low. oczek 20 88 Snacks and 10 47 144 candy 81 67 77 19 12 117 Processed 28 16 frozen, dried and chilled food, and ready-to- eat meals 25 24 24 31 14 14 13 19 |10 183 112 130 37 251 70 115 42 29 25 PACKAGED FOOD TOTAL 787 759 739 703 593 455 392 302 116 39 United States South Africa vs. Spain France Mexico Japan Russia Brazil China India FRESH FOOD TOTAL 602 621 462 597 645 636 677 357 1,034 378 Pounds per capita in 2009 Vegetables 194 335 192 184 156 278 208 145 609 207 64 67 Fruit 124 218 80 91 203 161 56 81 72 126 Eggs, nuts and 88 beans 88 19 131 116 103 59 94 88 Meat and 152 seafood 197 122 146 125 205 METRICS 132 HANNAH FAIRFIELD Factory Food 65 O country has embraced the movement toward commercialized, pre-packaged food as much as the United States. Americans eat 31 percent more packaged food than fresh food, and they consume more packaged food per person than their counter- parts in nearly all other countries. A sizable portion of the American diet is ready-to-eat meals, like frozen pizzas dinners, and sweet or salty snack foods. "Americans tend to graze rather than sit down and eat a full meal, so the food is tailored for convenience," said Mark Gehlhar, who has studied global food consumer preferences at the Economic Research Service of the Agriculture Department. "And Americans do not seem to be as discerning about quality." T. Colin Campbell, a nutritionist at Cornell University, said that "there is a lot of money tied up in the industry because it is profitable for companies to make these foods." He added that "processed foods contain large amounts of fat, salt and sugar, and Americans have become addicted to them." But epidemiologic studies have shown that diets with higher levels of fat, salt and sugar lead to higher rates of heart disease, diabetes and obesity. The Japanese eat a large amount of packaged frozen seafood, but it undergoes very little processing and has few chemical additives. Some Europeans eat a similar amount of packaged food per capita as Americans, but more of it is bakery bread and dairy products, rather than things like frozen toaster pastries and artificial nondairy and microwave 228 creamer. PHOTOGRAPHS BY XAQUÍN G.V/THE Sources: Euromonitor International; U.S. D.A Economic Research Service NEW YORK TIMES