Eight million Brits no longer eat meat as youngsters drive surge towards vegetarian and vegan diets

NEARLY eight million Brits no longer eat meat and one in four are set to cut their intake over the next year.

Youngsters are driving the move towards more vegetarian or vegan diets.

More and more Brits are choosing a meat free diet

But many more are also refusing to completely give up their bacon butties, burgers or bangers, choosing instead to go for trends such as “meat free Mondays".

A survey discovered six per cent consider themselves vegetarian, four per cent pescatarian — they do not eat meat but still eat fish — and two per cent are vegan.

This equates to 7.8million of the population, more than triple the number who had claimed to have given up meat in 2012.

A further 25 per cent plan to reduce meat consumption over the next 12 months, said the survey by Harris Interactive for trade journal The Grocer.

However, 80 per cent of over-55's don't plan on making a change

Britain's Olympic hero, Mo Farah promotes vegetarianism in his adverts for Quorn

The biggest factor is animal welfare, with 31 per cent changing diet because of the treatment of livestock, from veal to battery hens.

The environmental impact of meat eating, such as the destruction of forests for farming overseas, was a factor for 20 per cent.

Vegetarianism is also becoming more high- profile as well as fashionable, with Quorn meat substitutes, being advertised by Britain’s Olympic hero Sir Mo Farah.

Harris head of research Lucia Juliano said: “It isn’t surprising that young consumers are thinking about changing their ways. But the over-55s aren’t so concerned — 80 per cent of them plan to make no change.”

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