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Chronicle (Levin), 15 December 1949, Page 5

! Reeeived Wednesdav" 7 p.m. LONDON, Dee. 14. Tn terms of calories, the average eitxzen of Britain reeeived in 194S-49 onlv one per eent les's than the pre-war a'n unal average, states a White Paper pnhlished by the Ministrv of Food. Before the war eaeh person reeeived 3000 calories daily. Now the figure is estimated at 29S0. This tigure is three per eent higher tlian in the vears 1946-48. The report states tliat the increase is explained l)y the rise in eonsnrnption of butter, margarine, lard and sugar whicli has made good the loss of calories eaused by the small meat ration. The report also savs that the British people are eating about one-third le=s meat than before the war and that the meat ration is still nearly 25 per eent below the level of 1944. Details are given of the average annnal eonsnrnption per liead of individual items of food. The general pietnre is: — "In 1948-49 the eonsnrnption of i'ats xras nearly 20 per eent above the level of 1946, butter being at the liighest level since 1940. "Sugar stood at the higliest level sinee before the war. "Tn the dairy products gi-oup whieh. as a whole, showed a sTight iraprovement eompared with figures for 1946, eonsnrnption of liquid milk rose bv about 7 per eent. Compared with the pre-war level, the eonsumption of liquid milk shows an increase of 65 per eent and Ihe eonsnrnption of dairy products as a whole an increase of 30 per eent. ''The annual average coTjsumption of meat per head fell from 90 lbs in 1946 to just under 701b in 1948-49." The report attributes the fall in eonsumption of cheese to a reduetion in dollar imports, and the fall in imports of baeon and eanned meat, to "suppjy diffieulties" in Canada and Argentina. Fish eonsumption is now running at 25 per eent above the pre-war rate. The eonsumption of shell eggs in 1948-49 reached the higliest level sinee 1940. The eonsumption of shell eggs. dricd and proeessed eggs, was onlv S per eent below the rate of 1934-38. The eonsumption of fruit and fruit products is onlv about 10 per eent below the pre-war average The poor potato erop in 1947-48 redueed eonsumption from 2S41bs in 1947 to 2421bs in 1948. The debate on food i« to take plaee in the Commons on Thursdav when T)r Fummerskill will , fill the plaee/ of- Mr Btratehey wh& is| in'East Afriea/ Answering q'uestions in the Commons this week, Dr. Fummerskill said it would not be in the public interest to diselose how mueli baeon, meat and butter were in store in the TTnited Kingdom. Asked whether she was aware of the long delavs taking plaee in the turn round of ships beeause there was no room in the granaries of ports to reeeive their eargoes of grain, T)r. Rummerskill replied that grain arrivals had been heavv during reeent months and some delavs in diseharging ships had oecurred. She antieipated an improvement in conditions in the New Year. She also stated that 11 refrigerated ships were being used to store meat, at an average eost of about 70s per ton whieh eompared with 27s per ton for land storage.