With the world’s expanding waistline continuing to make a significant contribution to health problems and government expenditure, this briefing maps out where consumers are purchasing their calories. From the introduction of “fat taxes” to industry-supported voluntary agreements, this report also analyses some of the primary actions being taken at national and international levels to mitigate rising obesity rates. The food industry will need to do more or face tighter regulations in the future.

1. WHERE ARE OUR CALORIES COMING FROM?
ACTIONS BEING TAKEN TO IMPROVE NUTRITION
Euromonitor International Introduces Passport Nutrition

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 Passport Nutrition is Euromonitor International’s latest research offering and provides unique insight into the
world of nutrition and the dynamic it shapes between business, government and the consumer. The system
covers 54 countries and looks at the following eight nutrients:
 Energy (calories)
 Protein
 Carbohydrate
 Sugar
 Fat
 Saturated fat
 Fibre
 Salt
Passport Nutrition provides three key areas on analysis:
1. Analysis of the nutritional intake of the population
The average intake of eight different nutrients on a per person per day basis is available for 54 countries.
This information is also split by product category, to the lowest available level.
2. View the nutrition composition of food and beverage products
The nutritional information per 100g of product is available for over 50,000 packaged food and soft drink
products.
3. Review company and brand contributions
The nutritional information is also available by company and by brand.
Introducing Passport Nutrition
INTRODUCTION

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The methodology is simple: we collect the nutrition
information from product labels and apply it to our already
published volumes and brand shares. This gives us the
amount of each nutrient consumed from each brand and
product category. Doing this for all packaged food and soft
drink products builds a picture of what types of foods people
are eating and how they contribute to dietary intake.
Research methodology for Passport Nutrition
INTRODUCTION

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Objectives
INTRODUCTION
 The core objective of this report is to map out the purchasing of calories and other nutrients, including
sugar and fat, on a per person per day basis, at a global, regional and country level.
 It then aims to break this down by packaged food and soft drink category, identifying the key contributors to
calorie purchasing in different countries. This should shed insight on how diets vary around the world and
how the significance of different categories varies from country to country.
 This briefing also gives an overview of the main legislative and voluntary actions that have been taken so
far in an attempt to stop the rising rates of overweight and obesity. By using a country case study approach,
it will put key actions – junk food and soft drink taxes, agricultural subsidies, voluntary agreements and
reformulation – into context, using nutrition data specific to certain categories and nutrients.
 It then examines the potential challenges the food and nutrition world will have to address in the future,
using forecast data that run from 2014-2019.

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INTRODUCTION
Key findings
The world buys 1.5 trillion
calories a day
The average global consumer purchases 765 calories each day through
packaged food and soft drinks. While this seems low (given the recommended
intake is around 2,000 for an adult), it is a global average. Countries in North
America and Western Europe purchase over 1,500 calories, while in India it is
150 and in China it is 510.
Bread could be Mexico’s
downfall
As a result of the high and growing prevalence of obesity, Mexico has
implemented a tax on junk food products. It is the country that buys the most
calories per capita per day, with 40% coming from bread alone, a product that it
excluded from legislation.
12g of sugar is purchased
within soft drinks on a per
capita per day basis
While soft drinks contain comparatively little sugar per 100g/ml compared to
other categories, such as confectionery, cakes, pastries, and sweet and savoury
snacks, it is the single largest contributing category to total sugar purchasing.
With the WHO expected to halve the guideline for added sugar intake, and
countries such as Mexico, France and California in the US already implementing
taxes, it seems that legislation regarding soft drinks is only going to get tighter.
Taxes on individual
nutrients might not be
effective
Denmark’s tax on saturated fat failed after the industry argued that it was
ineffective. While calories from fat represent 40% of the total calories
purchased, taxing one nutrient is complex and unlikely to succeed.
Overconsumption of
calories is set to worsen
Based solely on packaged food and beverage forecast volumes, if it is assumed
that the calorie content of products does not change over the next five years
then the average global consumer will be buying 90 more calories a day in 2019
compared to 2014.

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The world buys 1.5 trillion calories each day
 On average, the world purchases 765 calories
per capita per day in packaged food and soft
drinks. There is significant geographical
variation, but at the global level, bakery is the
single largest contributor, at around 200 calories
per capita per day. Within bakery, over half of
these calories come from bread alone. This is
higher in countries in the Middle East and Africa
and Latin America, where bread is heavily
subsidised and is traditionally the main staple.
Fats and oils are the top contributing category
 Given that they are essentially pure fat, oils and
fats contain the highest number of calories per
100g, so it is perhaps unsurprising that it is the
second largest category contributing to total
calories. While the average global consumer
buys 140 calories of fats and oil a day, a lot of oil
is wasted after cooking and frying, meaning it is
likely to contribute less to actual intake. Dairy,
soft drinks and confectionery combined
contribute around 25% of intake.
Global calorie intake from packaged food and soft drinks
THE WORLD’S EXPANDING WAISTLINE
27%
18%
15%
11%
8%
4%
4%
13%
Average Global Calorie Intake by
Product Category 2014
Bakery Oils and Fats Dried Processed Food
Dairy Soft Drinks Confectionery
Snacks Others

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0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
1,800
Western Europe North America Australasia Latin America Eastern Europe Middle East and
Africa
Asia Pacific
Dailycalorieconsumptionpercapita
Average Calorie Consumption by Region 2014
Packaged Food Soft Drinks
Western Europe and North America eat the most
THE WORLD’S EXPANDING WAISTLINE
Western Europe and North America are the two regions with the largest nutritional intake
 In North America, an average of 188 calories are consumed on a daily per capita basis from soft drinks
alone, which represents 12% of total energy intake. Bakery, which includes biscuits, bread, cakes and
pastries, is the single largest contributor to calorie intake in both regions. Thanks to Europe’s dependence
on small local bakeries and patisseries, Western Europe consumes 250 calories more per capita from
unpackaged bread than North America.
Energy intake in Asia Pacific is considerably lower
 Whilst Asia is the fastest growing packaged food market globally, penetration of packaged products in
markets like India, Vietnam and Thailand remains relatively low, especially amongst rural consumers.
Another thing to consider when looking at Asia Pacific is that consumer foodservice sales reached US$1.1
trillion in 2014, which represents two thirds of all money consumers spend on food.

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Industry reacts by building healthier product portfolios
ACTIONS TO CURB APPETITES
 The soft drinks industry argues that consumer choice is key to tackling obesity, and that soft drinks can play
a part in a balanced diet if lifestyles are healthy and active. As well as funding activity programmes and
adopting front-of-pack labelling, nearly all the big players have made commitments to alter their product
portfolios to help consumers to make healthier choices, including launching new variants and smaller
packaging sizes of leading brands. Over the last two years, there have been many new product
developments, including the launch of Pepsi True and Coca Cola Life, which are partially sweetened with
stevia and contain 30% less sugar than their regular counterparts.
 While the launch of reduced sugar products is a step forward, given that standard brands have a strong
identity and the largest volume sales, reformulating standard products to contain less sugar, or reducing the
regular pack size, would have a much wider impact than launching new products. In parts of Western
Europe, regular Sprite has been reformulated to contain 30% less calories. If all soft drinks globally were
reformulated to provide the same reduction, then 90 billion fewer calories would be purchased from soft
drinks every day. There is, however, the risk that the launch of reduced sugar products could contribute
more calories being purchased if consumers switch from buying a calorie-free product to a calorie-reduced
product instead.

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Media attention shifts to sugar as the “bad nutrient” but
fat still an important target for reformulation
 The reformulation of products high in fat, such as ready
meals, pizza, snacks and baked foods, continues to be
encouraged, and trans-fats – fats with a particular structure
that are linked to high cholesterol – have been banned in a
number of countries. The average global consumer
purchases around 35g of fat from packaged food and soft
drinks a day, and the majority of this is from vegetable and
seed oil, a proportion of which will be thrown away after
cooking rather than being consumed. Sales of low-fat dairy
products reached US$70 billion globally in 2014,
representing 15% of total sales, thanks mostly to their wide
availability in Western markets.
Dairy a significant contributor to fat purchased
 Despite the popularity of low-fat products, dairy makes up
11% of total fat purchased from packaged food and soft
drinks, and being naturally high in saturated fat also means
that the category represents 22% of all saturated fat
purchased. Vegetable oil is an important ingredient and
cooking medium for bakery and snack products, meaning
that these categories also contribute significant amounts to
fat intake.
Fat is still a target for reformulation
ACTIONS TO CURB APPETITES
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Grammespercapitaperday
Fat Purchased From Packaged Food and
Soft Drinks Globally by Category 2014
Others
Confectionery
Sauces,
Dressings and
Condiments
Chilled
Processed
Food
Sweet and
Savoury
Snacks
Dairy
Bakery
Oils and Fats

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-50
0
50
100
150
World Asia Pacific Middle East
and Africa
Eastern
Europe
Latin America Australasia Western
Europe
North America
Absolutegrowth
(kcal)
Forecast Growth in Food and Drink Calorie Purchasing by Region 2014-2019
The global consumer could be buying 90 more calories a day by 2019…
 Based on packaged food and beverage forecast volumes, if the calorie content of products does not
change over 2014-2019, then the average global consumer will be buying 90 more calories a day in 2019
compared to 2014. This is higher in some regions than others, with Asia Pacific and the Middle East and
Africa seeing their average calorie purchase increase by nearly 130 kcal a day, mostly thanks to increased
availability of packaged products. Clearly, concerted efforts by government and industry to reformulate
products and offer new products and portion sizes will need to continue.
…when consuming 100 calories a day less could prevent the current trajectory in obesity prevalence
 The UK government has recognised that a reduction in calorie intake of 100 kcal a day would be likely to
halt the current rising trend in obesity and correct energy imbalance, hence its efforts to remove 5 billion
calories a day from the UK population’s diet. While this is a national target, the number of calories
purchased per person per day is forecast to increase in every region of the world other than North America.
If rising overweight and obesity levels are to be curbed, then both governments and industry are likely to
need to step up their efforts to tackle the problem.
Number of calories purchased could potentially rise up to 2019
CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE

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 If other nations were to follow the target set by the UK and reduce the daily calorie intake of the population
by 100 calories per capita, in an attempt to reduce the rate of obesity, then what would that mean for what
people are eating? Data from Passport Nutrition show what reductions in weight or volume of certain
product categories would be required to hit the 100kcal target.
Country Top contributing category to
calorie purchase
Volume reduction (g/ml) of that category
required to hit 100kcal reduction target
Australia Packaged hard cheese 27g
Brazil Vegetable/seed oil 12g
France Chilled processed meat 34g
Germany Butter 14g
Mexico Standard regular cola 234ml
US Bulk dairy ice cream 51g
United Kingdom Spreadable fats and oils 19g
Is reducing calorie purchase by 100 kcal per person per day
achievable?
CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE
 Reducing the intake of one category alone is not the solution to rising obesity rates, and the data laid out
above are looking at a total population level – those who are overweight and obese will need to reduce their
intakes more to lose weight. However, it is clear that reducing the amount of calories a population
consumes by 100 a day is not unreasonable, given that the amount of food required to hit this is generally
no more than one serving size. How this is achieved, whether it be by stronger education initiatives,
introducing taxes or voluntary agreements, is up to governments and public health bodies.

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Forecast calorie purchase is set to decline in the US…
 The US is one of 12 countries where the purchase of calories is expected to be lower in 2019 than in 2014.
Declining volume sales of bread, milk, cola carbonates, vegetable and seed oil, biscuits and confectionery
are expected to contribute a significant proportion of the 45 calorie decline over the forecast period. While
this is definitely a move in the right direction, the US has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world and
so more needs to be done than relying solely on declining volume sales.
…but sales of better-for-you products do not appear to be the solution
 Encouraging consumers to make healthier choices is a method favoured over legislation by manufacturers,
retailers and governments alike. However, in the US, sales of better-for-you products that are low in sugar,
fat and salt declined by US$4.3 billion in real terms over 2009 and 2014. Products that are marketed as
“reduced” are thought of by some consumers as being poorer in flavour and taste compared to their “full-
fat” variants. Instead, health conscious consumers are switching to preparing their own meals from fresh
food and moving to packaged products that are marketed as being naturally healthy. This is important for
manufacturers to note when considering their product portfolios and trying to increase the range of healthier
offerings.
Low-fat and low-sugar products are not the answer
CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE
40,000
45,000
50,000
55,000
60,000
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
US$mn
Retail Value Sales of Better-for-You Food and Beverage Products 2009-2019
North America
Western Europe

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Sales of “fit bands” soar since their launch
 Over the last two years there have been significant developments
in wearable technology, including “fit bands”, which measure the
number of steps a person has taken, calories burned over the
day, heart rate and other health factors. While they might be a
useful aid for someone losing weight, they appeal mostly to
people who are interested in fitness and generally are already
healthy and active, and are therefore unlikely to have any
significant impact on obesity.
Mobile phone applications aid consumers in making healthier
food choices
 There is also a wide range of applications that record calorie
intake and help make healthier food choices easier, with some
allowing the user to scan a product’s barcode and offer more
healthy substitutes. While the use of such applications is positive,
the cost and availability of the technology means it is most likely
to be used only by middle-class consumers in developed
countries, ruling out the large overweight population in emerging
markets and low-income groups in Western markets, where
obesity rates are higher. While technology has ensured that it has
never been easier to make a healthy choice when it comes to
food, it is going to take more than consumers switching to diet
carbonates to reverse the trend in obesity rates.
Technology ensures that making a healthy choice has never been
easier
CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE

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Double current efforts or prepare for tighter legislation
RECOMMENDATIONS
If obesity rates are to be lowered, tighter
legislation seems inevitable
The public health and economic cost of diet
related disease is growing and so changes
to agricultural subsidies, taxes and
marketing restrictions are being considered
by policy makers. The rest of the food
system needs to increase its current efforts
if it is to avoid this, or take action to prepare
the business for a tighter regulatory
environment.
Governments should not shun
responsibility entirely onto consumers
While food choices are the ultimate
responsibility of the consumer, governments
need to make every effort to ensure that
fresh, healthy and affordable food is more
widely available. Reviewing the level of
agricultural subsidies, which contribute to
the low prices of processed food, may be a
good starting point.
The food industry needs to move up a
gear
Big players have made efforts to improve
their ranges of healthy products, and
reformulate and clearly label their products.
However, small and medium sized
manufacturers need to follow suit, and key
brands should be considered for
reformulation in order to have the most
widespread impact on the consumption of
calories.
Retailers should consider what
promotions they allow and the position
of impulse products in their stores
The heavy promotion of processed foods
and the positioning of impulse products at
the ends of aisles and checkouts can
contribute to over-consumption of products
high in sugar fat and salt. Retailers may
want to follow Lidl and Tesco in the UK by
only placing healthy snacks at checkouts.