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<p>The Government is concerned that we are eating too much saturated fat. Excessive consumption of saturated fat poses a risk to our health, since it is associated with cardiovascular disease, the number one cause of premature death in the UK, as well as some cancers and diabetes. The Food Standards Agency (FSA), the Government department responsible for protecting the public's health in relation to food, estimates that the average Briton consumes 20% more saturated fat than the official Government recommended amount. In addition, using market research data on the foods people buy, researchers at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) point out that it is households with lower incomes that are the most likely to buy excessive quantities of saturated fat.</p>
Authors
Martin O'Connell
Research Fellow University of Wisconsin
Martin, previously Deputy Research Director, is a Research Fellow at IFS and Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin.
Journal article details
- Publisher
- Philip Allan
- Issue
- November 2009
Suggested citation
O'Connell, M. (2009). 'Tackling the British love for fat' (2009)
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