Milling & Baking News - March 24, 2009 - 23

Data

Total flour use steady in '08, but
per capita disappearance slips 1 lb
Continued from Page 1

in the 1980s and 3,877,000 in the 1970s.
Even in earlier decades when gains
seemed slight, average annual increase
in the 1960s was 1,381,000 cwts and in
the 1950s, 741,100.
With total wheat flour disappearance
holding steady in 2008 and population
continuing to expand, per capita disappearance of wheat flour decreased
in the past year. According to E.R.S.
calculations, per capita use of wheat
flour in 2008 was 137 lbs, against 138
lbs in the previous year. The latter was
the highest since 141 lbs in 2001.
Even with the decrease, per capita use
in 2008 was well ahead of the recent low
of 134 lbs in 2005. Yet, it also was 10 lbs
below the recent high of 147 lbs in 1997,
which marked the apex of the amazing
climb in per capita flour use that began
in the wake of the all-time low of 110 lbs
recorded in 1972 and 1971.
It was in 2002 that per capita first
decreased to 137 lbs. In the following

six years, the range has been between
134 and 138 lbs, indicating a steadiness in this measure of consumption
that has not prevailed during most of

Per capita consumption
(in lbs)
160

145

130

115

100
1970

1974

1978

1982

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24 / March 24, 2009

Milling & Baking News

1986

1990

1994

1998

2002

2006

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

IF $11OE GATIS AI'S

A Division

the 20th and into the 21st century.
In considering these estimates
of wheat flour disappearance, it is
important to keep in mind that the
E.R.S. projects that slightly more than
30% of the available supply is wasted, either in commercial production
of flour and flour-based products or

at food service and homes.
According to E.R.S. calculations,
domestic disappearance of durum
semolina in 2008 dropped 7%, dipping to 34,654,000 cwts, against the
all-time peak of 37,217,000 in 2007.
Durum semolina use had risen for
three straight years to reach the 2007
high, from the recent low of 30,972,000
cwts in 2004. Since the early 1990s,
when durum mills integrated with
pasta manufacturing plants were first
included by the Census in estimating
production, disappearance has been
in a relatively narrow range between
34 million and 37 million cwts.
Deducting durum semolina use
from total flour disappearance
leaves the non-semolina flour aggregate at 381,345,000 cwts, a record
high. It compares with the previous
peak of 379,938,000 in 2007. The recent low for non-semolina flour use
was 357,109,000 cwts in 2002, which
was 20 million cwts less than the
377,583,000 cwts attained in 2000.
It was in the early years of the 21st
century that consumer demand for
grain-based foods was severely impacted by the brief popularity of
the Atkins diet and its emphasis on
weight reduction by cutting carbohydrate intake.
The 1-lb decrease in per capita consumption of total wheat flour in 2008
from 2007 was repeated in per capita
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Milling & Baking News - March 24, 2009

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