Britain has a fibre problem, and it is no longer a quiet one. A new analysis of national diet data, published this week, finds that adults are still eating about 18g of fibre a day — the same stubborn shortfall that has barely moved in a decade, and far below the 30g recommended by official guidelines.
Researchers at the University of Leeds estimate that closing even half of that gap could prevent thousands of cases of type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer each year. Fibre, found in beans, oats, wholegrains, nuts, fruit and vegetables, feeds the gut, steadies blood sugar and helps keep cholesterol in check. It is unglamorous. It also works.
“We have spent years talking about protein and ultra-processed food, which matter, while the simplest dietary failure in the country goes unfixed,” said Professor Miriam Cole, who led the work. “This is not a lifestyle story. It is a population-level failure hiding in supermarket baskets.”
The shortfall is sharpest among younger adults and in the most deprived fifth of households, where wholegrains and pulses are less likely to appear at the evening meal. White bread, low-fibre breakfast cereals and ready meals still dominate weekday eating.
NHS dietitians say the 30g target is achievable without a sack of bran: a bowl of porridge, a tin of lentils in a tomato sauce, a couple of pieces of fruit and a handful of nuts will get most people close. The obstacle is not knowledge so much as habit, price and the food environment.
Ministers have no fibre strategy as such. Campaigners want clearer front-of-pack labelling for fibre, reformulation targets for bread and cereals, and a serious push on pulses in school and hospital food. “Salt and sugar had their moment in policy,” said Amelia Fraser, who has reported the file for this paper. “Fibre is next, if anyone in Whitehall is paying attention.”