Fresh produce consumption fell through the opening two months of the year across Spanish households, according to the Food Consumption Panel of the country's Ministry of Agriculture.
According to the latest figures, fruit and vegetable consumption fell 6 per cent year-on-year through January and February, down to 1.19m tonnes, although spending actually increased 2.5 per cent to €1.78bn.
The decrease in volume took place across three different categories - fruit (-6 per cent), vegetables (-9 per cent) and potatoes (-0.4 per cent).
Tomatoes, onions and peppers were the vegetables most affected by the trend, while for fruits there were consumption drops for oranges, bananas, apples, pears and mandarins.
'The continuing decrease in home consumption is worrisome and contradictory, as fresh fruits and vegetables are considered the main components of a healthy diet,' Fepex noted in a statement. 'For this reason, it is considered important to strengthen communication, not only in the educational field, in addition to seeking the collaboration of different administrations involved, mainly in the health field, since maintaining a healthy diet among the population contributes to the reduction of health expenditure.'
