Global diets get more similar in threat to food security: study

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent OSLO (Reuters) – Increasing similarity in diets worldwide is a threat to health and food security with many people forsaking traditional crops such as cassava, sorghum or millet, an international study showed on Monday. “More people are consuming more calories, protein and fat, and they rely increasingly on a shortlist of major food crops … along with meat and dairy products,” Colin Khoury, leader of the study at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Colombia, said in a statement. Such diets have been linked to risks of heart disease, cancers and diabetes, the study said. Reliance on a narrower group of food crops also raises vulnerability to pests and diseases that might gain because of climate change.