Are fruits and vegetables less nutritious than they used to be?
Written by: Martin Ebner,
Last updated October 2026
Modern fruit and vegetables are less nutritious than they used to be. You’ve probably seen some version of that claim online, usually followed by a worrying chart and somebody trying to sell you a supplement. There is a real issue underneath it, but the headline leaves out most of what matters.
Some fruits, vegetables and staple crops do contain less of certain nutrients than comparable crops measured decades ago. That’s worth understanding. It isn’t a reason to give up on vegetables, spend your salary in the organic aisle or start treating a multivitamin like a salad.
THE SHORT ANSWER
There is evidence of nutritional decline, but the dramatic version of the story usually gets ahead of the research. Nutrient levels haven’t fallen equally across every crop, every nutrient or every country. Even within the same food, the variety, soil, weather, ripeness, storage and testing method can change the result.
The useful conclusion is this. Modern agriculture has often prioritised yield, size, speed and shelf life, and that can dilute some nutrients. Rising carbon dioxide may reduce concentrations of certain minerals too. Fruit and vegetables remain extremely useful foods, and most of us would benefit from eating more of them rather than worrying that today’s broccoli has failed an exam against one grown in 1950.
WHAT CHANGED BETWEEN 1950 AND 1999?
The study most often quoted in this conversation compared United States Department of Agriculture data for 43 garden crops measured in 1950 and 1999. Across the group, the researchers found statistically reliable declines in protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin and vitamin C. The median reductions ranged from 6 percent for protein to 38 percent for riboflavin.
That sounds enormous until you read the rest of the paper. Seven other nutrients showed no reliable decline, most individual food and nutrient comparisons couldn’t be separated confidently from ordinary variation, and some values increased. The researchers didn’t conclude that every modern vegetable had become an empty shell. They suggested that changes in the crop varieties we grow were the most likely explanation.
That distinction matters. A broad pattern across dozens of crops isn’t the same as proving that the carrot in your fridge contains exactly 20 percent less iron than your gran’s carrot did.
WHY CAN NUTRIENT LEVELS FALL?
Plant breeders and farmers have become very good at producing crops that grow quickly, resist disease, survive transport and deliver more food from the same piece of land. Those are genuine achievements. The possible trade-off is that a larger or faster-growing crop doesn’t always accumulate protein, vitamins and minerals at the same rate.
Think of it as dilution. If a plant produces more carbohydrate or holds more water without taking up every mineral proportionally, the concentration per 100 grams can fall. That doesn’t mean the food contains nothing. It means the relationship between yield and nutrient density can change.
Soil quality matters, but blaming the entire issue on exhausted soil is too neat. Crop variety, fertiliser use, growing conditions, rainfall, temperature, harvest timing and storage all play a part. Comparing food-composition tables across fifty years also introduces changes in sampling and laboratory methods. There’s a real signal here, surrounded by plenty of noise.
RISING CARBON DIOXIDE ADDS ANOTHER PROBLEM
Plants need carbon dioxide to grow, which makes the next part sound backwards. More carbon dioxide can increase growth while reducing the concentration of some nutrients in the edible part of the plant.
A large 2025 meta-analysis covering 43 crops and almost 30,000 comparisons found that rising carbon dioxide altered the balance of elements in edible plants, with zinc showing the largest decline. The effect varied by crop, plant tissue and nutrient, so it still isn’t accurate to say that everything is becoming less nutritious at the same rate.
For somebody choosing tonight’s dinner, this is more of a food-system problem than a reason to inspect every pepper. It matters enormously at population level, especially where people rely heavily on one staple crop. On an individual level, dietary variety remains one of the most practical ways to reduce the importance of any single food’s nutrient profile.
DOES ORGANIC PRODUCE FIX IT?
Not completely. Organic farming changes how food is produced, but the word organic doesn’t guarantee that every vitamin and mineral will be higher.
Research has found lower pesticide exposure and differences in some antioxidants, but a recent systematic review of organic fruit and vegetables concluded that it remains difficult to show that an organic diet produces greater health benefits than a conventional one. Variety, freshness, crop type and the rest of your diet still matter.
Buy organic if you prefer it, can afford it or care about the farming methods involved. If you can’t, ordinary fruit and vegetables are still an excellent choice. A conventionally grown apple you eat is considerably more useful than an organic one you leave in the shop because it costs twice as much.
The same rule applies to packaging claims. Organic, natural and locally grown can tell you something useful, but none gives you the complete nutritional picture. My guide to understanding food labels and marketing claims explains what those terms do and don’t mean.
YOU DON’T NEED TO LIVE ON KALE
The old version of this article ranked vegetables using a single combined score and crowned kale the winner. Nutrition doesn’t work that neatly. Foods contain different mixtures of vitamins, minerals, fibre and plant compounds, and one number can’t decide which vegetable is best for everybody.
Kale is great. So are spinach, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, onions, beans, berries and all the other foods that rarely receive their own wellness campaign. Vary the colours and types you eat during the week. You’ll cover far more nutritional ground than you will by forcing down the same supposedly perfect vegetable every day.
The World Health Organization recommends that people over ten aim for at least 400 grams of fruit and vegetables a day. Treat that as a useful reference rather than a daily exam. What matters most is that fruit and vegetables appear regularly and in enough variety to do some work.
FRESH, FROZEN AND CANNED ALL COUNT
Fresh produce is excellent, but it isn’t the only useful option. Frozen fruit and vegetables can be just as practical, especially when they’re frozen soon after harvesting. Canned options count too, although it’s worth checking for large amounts of added salt, syrup or sugar.
Cooking changes nutrients rather than destroying all of them. Heat can reduce some vitamin C, while making certain other compounds easier to absorb. Boiling vegetables and throwing away the water can lose more water-soluble nutrients than steaming, roasting or using the liquid in a soup. None of this needs to become a chemistry lesson every time you make dinner.
Choose produce you enjoy, store it properly and cook it in a way that means you’ll eat it. A slightly less nutritious vegetable on your plate still beats a theoretically perfect one decomposing at the back of the fridge.
WHERE A MULTIVITAMIN FITS
A multivitamin doesn’t replace food. Fruit, vegetables, pulses, nuts, wholegrains and other minimally processed foods provide fibre and thousands of compounds that don’t fit neatly into a capsule. The National Institutes of Health make the same distinction: a multivitamin may help in certain circumstances, but it can’t take the place of a varied diet.
It can still be a useful safety net if your diet is restricted, your appetite is poor, you’re eating very little during a fat-loss phase or life has made your food choices unusually repetitive. Vegans and vegetarians also need to pay attention to specific nutrients rather than assuming that eating plenty of plants covers everything. I’ve explained the main considerations in my guide to building muscle on a vegan diet.
If you want a straightforward daily option, Performance Lab NutriGenesis Multi is the one I recommend. Use it to support a decent diet, not to negotiate your way out of eating one.
KEEP EATING THE VEGETABLES
Some crops appear to contain less of certain nutrients than comparable crops did decades ago. That deserves serious attention from agriculture, researchers and public-health bodies. It doesn’t mean fruit and vegetables have stopped being good for you.
Eat enough of them, vary what you buy and let fresh, frozen and canned options make the job easier. Choose organic when it suits you, not because somebody has convinced you that conventional produce is nutritionally dead. Use supplements where they solve a real problem, not because a frightening headline made lunch feel inadequate.
If you’ve ever wondered whether your tomato has lost half its nutritional value since 1950, Check It Oot is where I separate useful nutrition evidence from the claims designed to make you suspicious of lunch. One email once or twice a month, written by me, straight to your inbox.
