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Two pieces of Weetabix in a bowl of milk
Alan Woodley is doubtful that one in 20 people are eating 18.4 pieces of Weetabix a day. Photograph: Nell Freeman (work experience)/The Guardian
Alan Woodley is doubtful that one in 20 people are eating 18.4 pieces of Weetabix a day. Photograph: Nell Freeman (work experience)/The Guardian

Not a grain of truth in Weetabix stats

This article is more than 2 years old

In response to a report that claimed Britons eat ‘an average of 336 Weetabix a year’, Alan Woodley does some number crunching

“Britons eat an average of 336 Weetabix a year each,” you claim (Weetabix workers to hold four-day strikes over pay and conditions, 8 November). Let’s do some maths. The population of the UK is 68,366,392. If everybody ate 336 Weetabix, this would give an annual total consumption of 22,971,107,712 Weetabix.

But not everybody eats Weetabix and some don’t eat cereal at all. You say that Weetabix accounts for 7% of UK cereal sales. So let’s make a generous estimate that 5% of the population (3,418,320) eat Weetabix. To come up with an average of 336, this 5% would have to eat 18.4 Weetabix a day. I don’t think so.
Alan Woodley
Northampton

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