A SHARP DROP OF NUTRIENTS IN OUR FOOD

15 June 2003

Today’s Food Lack Yesterday’s Nutrition
Fruits and vegetables sold in Canadian supermarkets today contain far fewer nutrients than they did 50 years ago, according to an analysis conducted by The Globe and Mail and CTV News.

Vital vitamins and minerals have dramatically declined in some of our most popular foods, including potatoes, tomatoes, bananas and apples, the analysis reveals. Take the potato, by far the most consumed food in Canada. The average spud has lost 100 per cent of its vitamin A, which is important for good eyesight; 57 per cent of its vitamin C and iron, a key component of healthy blood; and 28 per cent of its calcium, essential for building healthy bones and teeth. It also lost 50 per cent of its riboflavin and 18 per cent of its thiamine. Of the seven key nutrients measured, only niacin levels have increased.

The story is similar for 25 fruits and vegetables that were analyzed. But Health Canada refused to comment on the findings, saying the debate was an academic one. The academics, for their part, are intrigued, but not alarmed. Modern farming methods, long-haul transportation and crop- breeding practices are all believed to be contributing to the drop in vitamins and minerals.

Phil Warman, an agronomist and professor of agricultural sciences at Nova Scotia Agricultural College, said there is no doubt the nutritional content of food is different today, due to the emphasis on producing cheap food. “The emphasis is on appearance, storability and transportability, and there has been much less emphasis on the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables.” he said. Dr. Warman said crops are bred to produce higher yields, to be resistant to disease and to produce more visually attractive fruits and vegetables, but little or no emphasis is placed on their vitamin or mineral content.

While there is little evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, that the changes are resulting in major nutritional deficiencies in the general population. Dr. Warman said consumers should care about the issue because it is the nutrients, not the appearance, that give food value. “I care because I want to eat a product that is as high in nutritional value as possible. Otherwise, I would eat sawdust with nitrogen fertilizer,” he said.

Tim Lang, a professor at the Centre for Food Policy in London, England, agreed. “It’s an issue of consumer rights,” he said. ‘We think of an orange as a constant, but the reality is "It isn’t”. In fact, you would have to eat eight oranges today to get the same amount of vitamin A your grandparents got from a single orange. And you would need to eat five to get the same level of iron. However, the amount of vitamin C has increased slightly.

Dr. Lang said declining nutrient levels may prove to be a health issue because we are only beginning to understand how important micro nutrients are to disease prevention. “The argument that it doesn’t matter because we over consume is complacent. ... Nutrient density might also be important.”

Alison Stephen, director of research at the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada said the biggest nutritional problem is that most Canadians do not eat anywhere near the recommended five to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables daily. But she is not unduly worried about today’s consumers failing to get their required vitamins and minerals. “A lot of our foods today are fortified — milk, bread, apple juice, cereal,” she said.

In other words, grains and dairy products are far more important sources of essential nutrients than they were in the past to conduct the analysis, The Globe and Mail and C1V examined food tables that were prepared by government researchers in 1951, 1972 and 1999, and compared the nutrients available from 100 grams of the given food.