Consumption of meat and dairy products in China: a review

The objective of the present paper was to review the consumption status of meat and dairy products among Chinese residents. The research topics included production, consumption and health implications of dairy and meat, and the data sources included reports of national surveys, research papers and data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China. The average intake of meat, especially pork, has continued to increase in China. Pork intake increased from 371 g/d in 1992 to 643 g/d in 2012. There was a much higher margin in rural regions; pork intake of rural residents increased from 250 g/d in 1992 to 599 g/d in 2012, which resulted in a narrowed gap between urban and rural areas. Although the average intake of dairy products increased from 149 g/d in 1992 to 247 g/d in 2012, the overall level was still lower. There was a significant difference of dairy consumption between urban and rural residents. The gap of per capita consumption of milk between urban and rural households was 35 kg/year in 1990, reached the maximum of 169 kg/year in 2003, then decreased to 87 kg/year in 2012. In conclusion, the finding of this review sheds light on some problems with food consumption patterns in China. Effective strategies need to be adopted in order to change the consumption patterns. The consumption of milk and replacing pork with poultry or fish or other health foods should be encouraged.