Canadians are eating 88 per cent more guavas and mangos than a decade ago, according to a new study that finds grocery lists are including more fresh fruit, vegetables, low-fat milk, cheese and red meat.
The Statistics Canada , which analyzed food available for consumption in 2007, says Canadians consumed 0.6 kilograms of guavas and mangos per person that year.
Compared to 20 years ago, Canadians now eat nearly 38 per cent more processed fruits and 10.9 per cent more vegetables -- excluding potatoes.
Canadians are also consuming four times more garlic, twice as much asparagus and close to twice as many cucumbers.
Exotic vegetables such as manioc, eggplant, kohlrabi and okra are also on the rise.
The use of standard and two per cent milk has declined, replaced partly by an increase of one per cent and skim milk.
Still, Canadians are eating more fat contained in cheese and cream products.
The average Canadian consumed 6.2 litres of cream and 10.1 kilograms of cheeses.
Red meat consumption -- including beef, pork, mutton and veal -- jumped by 0.7 kilograms in 2007 from the previous year. In total, Canadians consumed an average of 24.5 kilograms of red meat.
Wine consumption among Canadians aged 15 years and older was 14.6 litres per person -- a jump of almost 46 per cent from a decade ago.
Meanwhile, the country is cutting back on cereal, sugar, oils, fats and eggs.
Total cereals available from the food supply dropped to 56.9 kilograms per person in 2007.
In the last seven years, shellfish products also decreased by almost 30 per cent while freshwater fish consumption jumped almost 50 per cent in the last decade.
