asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will name the countries in which, as he stated on 20th January, 1959, there has been a decline in flour consumption in recent years; and if he will state the extent of such decline and the source of his information.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Decline in Flour Consumption.
4.
The Report of the Third Session of the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations on Grains, dated 14th June, 1958, refers to the decline in flour consumption as follows:—
"Consumption of bread grains as food on a per caput basis has been declining in practically all the more highly developed countries where wheat is the main food grain. This tendency is particularly noticeable in North America and North Western Europe where there is an established tendency for consumption of bread grain to decline as income rises."
Statistics given in Table 91 A. of the Yearbook on Production of the F.A.O. for 1957 show the trend in per caput consumption of cereals in a large number of countries in recent years. This yearbook may be consulted in the Dáil Library.