Diet Quiz
Test your knowledge of global nutrition. Can you guess which country eats the most of each food group?
About the Global Nutrition Quiz
This quiz tests your knowledge of global food consumption patterns using data from the FAO Food Balance Sheets — the same dataset used by the United Nations, World Health Organization, and governments worldwide to track national food supply.
Each question asks you to guess which country leads the world in per capita supply of a specific food group. The answers are drawn from the most recent FAO data covering 184 countries. The results are often surprising — the countries that consume the most of a particular food are not always the ones you might expect.
Each round presents 10 randomly selected questions from a pool of 16 covering fruits, vegetables, meat (total and by type), fish, dairy, eggs, sugar, cereals, pulses, vegetable oils, and alcohol. After answering, you will see a brief fact about the correct answer with real per-capita data.
What the Data Tells Us
The FAO Food Balance Sheets measure food supply at the national level, calculated as domestic production plus imports minus exports, feed, seed, and industrial use. This is not the same as individual food intake — actual consumption is lower due to retail and household waste — but it is the best available proxy for comparing dietary patterns across countries.
Some patterns revealed by this data include:
- Small island nations often lead in fish consumption per capita, despite low total production volumes, because fishing is central to their food systems.
- The highest fruit consumers are often tropical countries where fruit grows year-round and is a dietary staple rather than a snack.
- Per-capita meat consumption has risen dramatically in middle-income countries over the past 30 years as part of the global nutrition transition.
- Sugar supply varies enormously — some countries supply over 60 kg per person per year, while others supply less than 5 kg.
After completing the quiz, explore these patterns in depth using the Global Atlas, Nutrition Transition timeline, or Chart Builder.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does the quiz data come from?
All answers are derived from the FAO Food Balance Sheets, published annually by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The data covers food supply in kg per capita per year for 184 countries. We use the most recent available year of data for each question.
Why is food supply different from food intake?
Food supply measures the total food available at the national level before accounting for waste at the retail, household, and plate level. Actual individual intake is typically 20-40% lower than supply figures. The FAO uses supply data because it can be consistently measured across all countries, while individual dietary surveys are only available for a handful of nations.
Are the questions the same every time?
No. Each round randomly selects 10 questions from a pool of 16 and shuffles the answer options. You will get a different set of questions each time you play, making it worth replaying to test yourself on all the categories.
Can I use this quiz for teaching?
Absolutely. The quiz is designed to be educational and engaging for students, nutrition professionals, and anyone curious about global food systems. All data is sourced from open datasets (FAO, CC BY 4.0) and the quiz is free to use and share. If embedding or linking from educational materials, please credit the Human Nutrition Explorer.