Consumption of schnitzel high

Mr. and Mrs. Austrian eat too many schnitzels

Mr. and Mrs. Austrian eat too many schnitzels and generally too much meat, a whopping 58.6 kilograms per capita per year! The annual recommended amount of meat will be eaten by April 7.

We eat too much meat - and have already eaten the recommended amount for the whole year by April 7, "Vier Pfoten" drew attention to the corresponding "Meat Exhaustion Day".

In Germany, this will not happen until April 21, and in Switzerland on May 6.

The basis for the calculation is the so-called "Planetary Health Diet", a scientifically based meal plan developed by the EAT-Lancet Commission. This takes into account the effects of nutrition on both the climate and human health.

An incredible 83.3 billion farm animals are slaughtered worldwide every year.

Verein „Vier Pfoten“

"An incredible 83.3 billion farm animals are slaughtered worldwide every year. Industrial livestock farming is the second largest source of CO₂ emissions," says campaign manager Veronika Weissenböck.

Meat consumption in Austria 58.6 kilograms per capita
At 58.6 kilograms per capita per year, meat consumption in Austria is almost twice as high as the global average (33 kilograms).

Calculated on a weekly basis, each person eats 1.13 kilograms and therefore more than seven schnitzels per week. The recommended amount of 301 grams per week corresponds to no more than two schnitzels.

At 58.6 kilograms per person per year, meat consumption in Austria is almost twice as high as the average global consumption.(Bild: APA/dpa-Zentralbild/Jan Woitas)

Pork leads the popularity rankings
Austrians prefer to eat pork, a whopping 33.5 kilograms per person per year. Ham is the most popular, followed by extra sausage, frankfurters, Knackwurst and Leberkäse. Toast ham, bacon and salami are also very popular.

In 2023, consumers bought 11,220 tons of ham and around 5,000 tons of toast ham in food retail outlets.