Per capita consumption

A nation of one biUion people, China is traditionally regarded as a rice-eating nation. But China grows almost as much wheat as the United States and buys and uses more wheat than any other country in the world. Each person in China on the average consumes 180 lb of wheat every year, mosdy in the form of noodles. The average American eats only about 116 lb of wheat flour per year in all types of wheat-based products. Some nations have much higher per capita consumption, up to 300 lb of wheat per year per person (46—48). 

The per capita consumption of rice in the United States has doubled since 1960 to approximately 10 kg in 1989. Over the last decade U.S. rice consumption has benefited from a growing trend in U.S. diets away from high fat animal products and toward grain-based foods. Many health groups encourage use of the complex carbohydrates found in grain products such as rice. Also, increases in the Asian and Hispanic segments of the U.S. 

Chlorine Per Capita Consumption. The U.S. per capita consumption of chlorine increased rapidly from 1955 to 1970, with an average aimual growth of 5.8% (Fig. 3). There has beenUtde, if any, growth since 1970 however, and recessionary effects, product maturity, and environmental pressures are evidenced in the cycHc fluctuations. Fluctuations in per capita consumption of chlorine and caustic have more or less tracked each other over the years, although chlorine per capita consumption has consistently exceeded that of caustic soda since 1967. 

Fig. 3. Annual per capita consumption of caustic (O) and chlorine (D) in the United States (6)).

Table 2. Per Capita Consumption, kg/yr, of Red Meat and Poultry in 10 Leading Countries from 1985 to 1991 ...

Fig. 2. Per capita consumption of red meat and poultry in the United States (1). Per capita consumption of red meat and poultry in 1991 is preliminary data.

Nuts and Nut Products. Nuts are used mainly as edible products and marketed either with or without the shell, as the demand requites. The most popular nuts ia the shell are English walnut, filbert, almond, Brazil nut, peanut, pistachio, and the improved, or paper-shell, pecan the most popular salted and roasted nut kernels iaclude these as well as the cashew, macadamia, and pignofla. Each year more nuts are shelled ia ceatraHy located plants and marketed as meats. The annual per capita consumption of shelled tree nuts ia the United States rose from 0.78 kg in 1987 to 1.00 kg in 1992 (132). 

The tremendous growth of the aluminum industry as compared to that of other nonferrous metals is shown in Table 10 (30). Aluminum production by country is given in Table 11 (34). The principal markets for aluminum in the United States are containers, packaging, building and constmction, and transportation. These markets accounted for 60% of industry shipments in 1989. Table 12 (34) shows per capita consumption of aluminum. 

Pulp production and per capita consumption of paper and board for 1992 is shown in Table 8. The United States, Canada, Sweden, Finland, and Norway make up the North American and Scandinavian (NORSCAN) countries and produced about 63% (22.8 million tons) of the world output. Market share is growing for producers in Latin and South America, Western Europe, Asia, and Africa. These areas provide low cost pulp from state-of-the-art mills. Mills in the third world countries often enjoy the benefits of plentiful, fast-growing tree species, such as eucalyptus and tropical pines, and lower operating and labor costs (3). 

Per capita consumption of all bakery products in the United States was about 50 kg in 1990 (3). Bread accounted for about 45% of this consumption, while all yeast-leavened items comprised approximately 74% of the total. The U.S. Dept, of Commerce s 1991 US. Industrial Outlook projects that per capita consumption of bakery foods wUl increase 2.2% annually from 1991 to 1996. 

France. In Prance, beer production is concentrated in the northern and eastern parts of the country. Beer production decreased from 22.3 X 10 hL in 1975 to 19.9 x 10 hL in 1988 packaged beer amounts to about 80% of the total. Per capita consumption was about 48 L in 1987. 

Sweden. In Sweden strict regulations of beverage consumption are more or less similar to those in Norway. Retail sales of normal beers (ale 4.3 vol %) and spirits are possible through government controlled stores (Systembolaget AB) only. The per capita consumption of beer was 51.4 L in 1987. 

Finland. Here, too, restrictions are severe. Finland had total prohibition from 1919 until 1939, which destroyed the brewing industry. After repeal, new beer production was intermpted by World War II. The per capita consumption was 51.5 L in 1987. Production increased from 2.5 x 10 hL in 1975 to 3.6 X 10 hL in 1988. 

Canada. The two predominant beer types are lager and ale. The preference for ale has decreased considerably over the years, from 60% in 1960 to 34% in 1984. The amounts produced of the porters and stouts have decreased also, from 1% to 0.02%. The approach to control the consumption of beer and other beverages is somewhat different in the provinces, especially as far as the retail sales are concerned (24). The per capita consumption was 82 L in 1987 and output increased from 20.8 x 10 hL in 1975 to 23.8 x 10 hL in 1988. 

The consumption of carbonated beverage has risen steadily since they were first introduced. Annual per capita consumption of soft drinks in the United States was approximately 16 ounces (<0.5 L) in 1860 and is estimated to be 47.5 gallons ( 180 L) in 1990 (Fig. 1). Although the consumption of soft drinks has increased, the number of soft drink plants has dropped steadily from 2258 in 1975 to 780 in 1991. Production of soft drinks has increased from 2.6 biUion cases in 1975 with a wholesale value of neady 9 biUion to 5.8 biUion cases with a wholesale value of 27.5 biUion in 1990. 

A rather impressive Hst of materials and products are made from renewable resources. For example, per capita consumption of wood is twice that of all metals combined. The ceUulosic fibers, rayon and cellulose acetate, are among the oldest and stiU relatively popular textile fibers and plastics. Soy and other oilseeds, including the cereals, are refined into important commodities such as starch, protein, oil, and their derivatives. The naval stores, turpentine, pine oil, and resin, are stiU important although their sources are changing from the traditional gum and pine stumps to tall oil recovered from pulping. 

Between 1948 and 1975, per capita consumption of gasoline in the United States increased from about 150 gal/yr to a little less than 500 gal/yr. A gi owing trend after the war was the increasing use of jet fuel for aircraft and the decline in use of aviation gasoline. j fter 1945, oil production increased in other parts of the world, especially the Middle East and Latin America. By the 1970s, the Middle East became a dominant oil producing region. The cartel formed by... 

By 2002 Wier, et al. (2002) reported that Denmark had probably the highest per capita consumption of organic products in the world. The reasons for this success were ... 

Tea is second only to water in worldwide consumption. Annual production of about 1.8 million T of dry leaf provides world per capita consumption of 40 L of beverage (Table l).1 The scientific interest in tea is due in part to the unusual chemical composition of its leaf and the complex series of reactions that occur when these components are converted to those found in commercial dry tea. Many of the reaction products interact with caffeine, modifying flavor and contributing to the technical problems of tea processing, as will be shown later. 

Per capita consumption of coffee has been steadily decreasing in the U.S. and Sweden, despite an overall increase in coffee production. This increase is taken up by the increase in population and the increased popularity of coffee in Japan, the Soviet Union, and the U.K. 

In the U.S. the per capita consumption of coffee has declined by one-third since 1960. Parallel with this has been a change in the proportion of Robusta coffees imported into the U.S. In 1950 only 6% of the imported coffees were Robustas whereas by 1975, 35% were Robustas. In the 1950s, Robustas were mainly used for instant coffee now they also constitute a significant part of the roast and ground coffee blends. These Robustas are used to the highest extent in vending machines, restaurants, decaffeinated blends, and instant coffees. 

Per capita consumption of cocoa also is shown in Table 12. Switzerland repeatedly had the highest per capita intake, with average intakes ranging from 3.4 to 5.1 kg per capita. Per capita consumption in Austria, Belgium, and Germany were also high with similar intakes. Consumption in the U.S. was lower than in these European countries, ranging from 1.4 kg in 1980-1981 to 2.2 kg in 1990-1991. 

On the basis of United States Department of Commerce Shipment data, Americans consumed about 5 kg per person of chocolate confectionery products in 1993.52 Of this quantity, enrobed and molded chocolate products comprised 53%, solid chocolate products with or without inclusions were 22%, and panned or assorted chocolate products made up the remaining 23%. Per capita consumption of chocolate confectionery products in 1993 increased 4.3% over the previous year and 0.7 kg per person since 1983. 

A population of2 billion would correspond to an annual per capita consumption rate of 100 MBTU, compared to the rate of 175 MBTU projected fortheUS. [1 MBTU = 106 BTU 1 quad= 1015 BTU.]... 

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