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Sales
have dipped in the last year as prices of the country's most famous
food have risen sharply according to The Telegraph.
An analysis
of Italians' shopping habits by the Confederazione Italiana
Agricoltori (CIA) showed pasta sales have fallen by 2.6 per cent in
the last year.
High global
food prices have hit the staples of Italian cuisine and caused large
scale changes in what people put in their shopping baskets.
Pasta prices
have risen by about 20 per cent in the last year, partly because it
is made largely from wheat, which has shot up in value due to higher
oil prices and growing demand from Asian countries.
Sales of
bread, vegetable and fruit in Italy - down 6.2, 4.2, and 2.5 per cent
respectively - have also been hit by rising prices and tighter
household budgets, as have sales of pork (down 4.7 per cent) and beef
(3.8 per cent).
By comparison
sales of eggs and chicken have risen, by 4.2 and 3.8 per cent respectively.
The CIA study
concluded: "Shoppers are looking for low-cost protein in a time
of austerity."
An Italian
newspaper, Corriere della Sera, bemoaned the impact on the
traditional Italian diet.
It commented:
"Sales are falling of the products which are the symbols of
Italian cuisine. Pasta is not just part of our diet, it is part of
our culture."
The paper
said Italians' shopping lists now read like "the shopping list
of an impecunious student living away from home."
But hectic
modern lifestyles are also thought to be behind dietary changes.
More Italians
are now buying "chicken pieces instead of pasta, fried foods
instead of vegetables and cheese instead of fruit", said the CIA report.
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