Residents of Brighton are the healthiest eaters in Britain according to a new study.
On average, people living in the south-coast town eat 13% more fresh fruit and vegetables than their nearest rivals, claimed the Sainsbury’s Active Kids Report.
One surprise was Glasgow’s position in the table. The city, once famous for its culinary 'masterpiece' the deep fried Mars Bar, takes 5th spot.
According to the retailer’s report, which examined the baskets of thousands of shoppers, as well as the sales figures from its top 40 most popular fresh fruit and vegetables, the healthiest eaters across the land can be found, in order: Brighton, London, Cardiff, Oxford, Glasgow, Birmingham, Northampton, Reading, Nottingham and Southampton.
Norwich, Leicester, Belfast, Leeds and Liverpool took positions 11-15. Manchester and Newcastle filled 16th and 17th spot.
The retailer claimed the league table is the first of its kind to measure healthy eating according to fruit and vegetable consumption.
The findings have been published to coincide with the start of Sainsbury's "Active Kids" campaign, in which the supermarket will give £3 million worth of sporting kit and activities to schools.
The data was revealed following an investigation by the supermarket to help it understand the likely redemptions for its new collection scheme.
From now until the end of June, Sainsbury's customers will earn one voucher per £10 spent in-store and online with the supermarket.
To help encourage healthy eating, customers will also earn an extra voucher for every £5 that they spend on fresh fruit and vegetables.
These vouchers can then be donated to any school participating in the collection programme, which is designed to encourage children and young people to understand the importance of healthy eating and being active.
Whilst Brighton residents out-bought everyone in the vast majority of fresh fruit & veg categories, the research highlights some surprising individual anomalies given the lowly placing of so many northern towns.
• The UK's melon metropolis turns out to be Glasgow (with Belfast in second place).
• Geordies gobble more pomegranates than anybody else (out-buying Londoners by 12%).
• Mancunians munch down more passion fruit than anyone (bar those based in Brighton).
• Glaswegians like to gorge on garlic (with third highest sales after London and Brighton).
The study also revealed the carrot capital as Oxford. And sprout suburbia can be found in and around Southampton.
The one veg Brighton consumers appeared to snub is the humble Jerusalem artichoke. It is often overlooked in supermarkets because of its ugly appearance. Although residents of Reading can't get enough of it, out-buying Brighton by a ratio of three to one.
In terms of overall popularity - and with the exception of the kiwi fruit - the British basket of fruit and vegetables still remains remarkably conservative.
Favourite fruits (in order of popularity) are apples, oranges, kiwi fruit, bananas and grapefruit.
Favourite vegetables in the shopping basket are revealed to be onions, cucumbers, peppers, cauliflower and cabbage.
Active Kids spokesperson Dominic Warne, said: "More and more young people are starting to take note of the government's recommendation to eat at least five portions of fruit or vegetables per day to help reduce the risk of some cancers, heart disease and many other chronic conditions.
“Brighton's a young town known for its healthy outdoor lifestyle. This probably explains why it's currently leading the way in terms of fresh fruit and veg eating.
"There's too much debate about why certain British fruit and vegetables aren't as popular as overseas rivals. It's more important to get everybody eating more of what's healthy and what they enjoy, wherever it happens to come from.
Over 6,500 schools across the country have now registered for the Active Kids campaign, Sainsbury’s said.
