Pasta has topped a global survey of the world's favourite foods.
While not everyone knows the difference between farfalle, fettuccine and fusilli, many people have slurped over a bowl of spaghetti bolognese or tucked into a plate of lasagne.
Certainly in UK households, spaghetti bolognese has been a regular feature of mealtimes since the 1960s. It's become a staple of children's diets, while a tuna-pasta-sweetcorn concoction can probably be credited with sustaining many students through their years at university.
A global survey by the charity Oxfam has named pasta as the world's most popular dish, ahead of meat, rice and pizza.
As well as being popular in unsurprising European countries, pasta was one of the favourites in the Philippines, Guatemala, Brazil and South Africa (where pizza and steak came second and third).
Oxfam reports that the results of the independent poll across 17 countries “show the spread of Western diets across the world. Although national dishes are still popular - such as paella in Spain, schnitzel in Germany and biryani in India - pizza and pasta are now the favourite foods of many, with more than half of the countries (nine out of 17) listing one or both in their top three foods”.
The research was carried out for Oxfam’s new Grow campaign, which is calling on governments and big businesses to fix the global food system to ensure that everyone has enough to eat. It showed that food prices are a common worry and that people’s diets are actually changing, with many not eating the same foods as they did just two years ago.
Figures from the International Pasta Organisation show Venezuela is the second largest consumer of pasta, after Italy. Tunisia, Chile and Peru also feature in the top 10, while Mexicans, Argentinians and Bolivians all eat more pasta than the British.
Global sales figures reflect the world's love affair with pasta - they have risen from US$13bn (£8bn) in 2003 to US$16bn (£10bn) in 2010.
Oxfam’s full list of the world’s top 10 foods:
The top ten in full:
1. Pasta
2. Meat
3. Rice
4. Pizza
5. Chicken
6. Fish and seafood
7. Vegetables
8. Chinese
9. Italian
10. Mexican - Belfast Telegraph, IOL
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