According to a report despite of incurring an expenditure of millions of pounds on the five-a-day campaign, Britons consumed lesser vegetables.

British consumers ate 1% more fruit in 2008 compared with the previous five-year average, but there is about 11% plunge in the consumption of vegetables, revealed the new figures from the fresh produce organization Freshfel Europe.

The overall European fruit consumption came down by 1% and that of vegetable melted by 14%. They managed to eat about an average of 439lb of fruit as well as vegetables per person in 2008.

About £3.3 million had been spent by the Department of Health on the five-a-day campaign in the past four years. Fresh Produce Consortium chief executive Nigel Jenney said, "It's disappointing to see further confirmation that we continue to fail as a nation to enjoy a healthy diet".

He shared that efforts on generic campaigns should be made so that people of all ages should be encouraged to eat fresh fruit and vegetables, irrespective of origin.

The five-a-day program should put greater emphasis on eating fresh food rather than eating highly processed food which is an acceptable alternative for healthy eating.