The dairy industry has welcomed a pledge by Defra minister Lord Bach to retain the national subsidy for school milk.
There had been fears the £1.5m-a-year subsidy would be axed after economists told ministers it was unnecessary.
But Lord Bach said: “My colleagues from the Department for Education and Skills and the Department of Health and myself have agreed the scheme has a valuable role and should remain unchanged.”
Dairy UK chief executive Jim Begg said: “Ending this subsidy would have deprived needy children of nutrition from milk. It is highly unlikely the money would have been redirected to other nutritional programmes.”Children eat more eggs as parents worry about healthEgg consumption occasions fell 1% in the year to May 2005.
Breakfast is the core occasion with 39% eaten then, up 2.4% year-on-year. Convenience and health are driving morning consumption with 60% of breakfasts taking under 10 minutes to prepare.
Some 45% of eggs are fried, with a further 28% boiled and 7% are microwaved.
Core consumers of eggs are adults aged 45+, who account for 53% of the market. Young adult males, aged 17 to 34, also overindex on consumption of eggs compared with total foods. Children aged 0-5 and 11-16 show the highest levels of increased consumption, up 8.7% and 8.2% respectively.
The healthy eating culture has had an effect, with parents wanting children to consume fewer processed foods. Health as a motivation for children’s eating habits rose from 17% to 19% in the past year.
There is no seasonality in the consumption of eggs, with levels during all seasons remaining consistent.
James Guild, TNS
There had been fears the £1.5m-a-year subsidy would be axed after economists told ministers it was unnecessary.
But Lord Bach said: “My colleagues from the Department for Education and Skills and the Department of Health and myself have agreed the scheme has a valuable role and should remain unchanged.”
Dairy UK chief executive Jim Begg said: “Ending this subsidy would have deprived needy children of nutrition from milk. It is highly unlikely the money would have been redirected to other nutritional programmes.”Children eat more eggs as parents worry about healthEgg consumption occasions fell 1% in the year to May 2005.
Breakfast is the core occasion with 39% eaten then, up 2.4% year-on-year. Convenience and health are driving morning consumption with 60% of breakfasts taking under 10 minutes to prepare.
Some 45% of eggs are fried, with a further 28% boiled and 7% are microwaved.
Core consumers of eggs are adults aged 45+, who account for 53% of the market. Young adult males, aged 17 to 34, also overindex on consumption of eggs compared with total foods. Children aged 0-5 and 11-16 show the highest levels of increased consumption, up 8.7% and 8.2% respectively.
The healthy eating culture has had an effect, with parents wanting children to consume fewer processed foods. Health as a motivation for children’s eating habits rose from 17% to 19% in the past year.
There is no seasonality in the consumption of eggs, with levels during all seasons remaining consistent.
James Guild, TNS
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