Butter is back as the nation's favourite as health fears melt away: Item is one of few traditional staples to survive huge changes in the nation's diet

Family Food Survey reveals butter is once again outselling margarine
It is one of few traditional staples to survive huge changes in nation’s diet
Meals are no longer ‘meat and two veg’ typical of previous generations
Instead of more traditional fare, modern Britons opt for super-hot chillies, Asian flavours such as wasabi and sweet potatoes
By Sean Poulter Consumer Affairs Editor For The Daily Mail

Published: 01:00, 3 November 2015 | Updated: 07:17, 3 November 2015

After years of worrying about the dangers of saturated fat, butter is officially back on the menu.

The latest Family Food Survey reveals butter is once again outselling margarine – making it one of the few traditional staples to survive huge changes in the nation’s diet.

The government survey, which has tracked eating habits since 1940, shows that family meals are no longer the ‘meat and two veg’ typical of previous generations.

The latest Family Food Survey reveals butter is once again outselling margarine – making it one of the few traditional staples to survive huge changes in the average Briton's diet

Instead of more traditional fare, modern Britons opt for super-hot chillies, Asian flavours such as wasabi, and sweet potatoes – now grown on farms across the UK.

Half a million families have been questioned since 1940 for the study, produced for the Government’s food and farming department Defra.

It said: ‘Butter has overtaken margarine. While the substitute spread overtook butter in the 1950s, and again in the 1980s, margarine’s popularity has nosedived in the last 20 years and butter is back on top.’

Warnings about the harmful effects of eating butter were turned on their head earlier this year, when researchers claimed links between saturated fat and heart disease were not based on sound science.

Professor Iain Broom, of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, said there was mounting evidence against the introduction of low-fat diets.

He suggested that refined carbohydrates, particularly sugar, were the real demons in terms of weight gain and associated ill-health such as Type 2 diabetes.

Recent studies have also suggested that eating red meat – particularly in processed forms such as sausages and bacon – can raise the risk of cancer.

The food survey found that, perhaps in light of repeated health warnings, families are eating less meat and more fish.

Warnings about the harmful effects of eating butter were turned on their head earlier this year, when researchers claimed links between saturated fat and heart disease were not based on sound science

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