Brussels sprouts make way for broccoli in new inflation basket

We are a digital-obsessed nation that officially only eats Brussels sprouts at Christmas and needs portable electric fans to beat global warning, according to a snapshot of the nation unveiled yesterday by government statisticians charged with calculating our monthly living costs.

Recordable DVDs, digital radios and digital film processing have supplanted VHS recorders, video cassettes and bulky cathode-ray tube televisions in the basket of items that is measured each month to produce the official inflation figure.

Other 20th-century favourites such as the car CD auto-changer, which enabled drivers to load up with their top 10 albums before a long trip, 35mm compact cameras and the portable CD player have been consigned to the historical shopping dustbin by the Office of National Statistics. Mail-order film developing and portable TVs share a similar fate, reflecting changing shopping patterns since the turn of the century.

In all, 20 items have been axed from the shopping basket to make room for the same number of new ones in the ONS's annual exercise to ensure it keeps pace with trends on the high street and in the home. Often this "lag" effect can lead to charges that the annual review misses the boat by including items just as they have gone out of fashion. But this year's shake-up looks to have largely avoided that fate.

Broccoli, deemed to be the ultimate "superfood" for its healthy properties, has replaced Brussels sprouts, which are shunned by shoppers in all months bar December, government statisticians say.

In a similar vein, olive oil, the symbol of a hearty Mediterranean lifestyle, has muscled out vegetable oil because it is "now more representative of cooking oils in general than other varieties". Probiotic drinks, such as Yakult and Actimel, have made the grade to represent the booming functional foods market. Brie, a staple of the basket since the 1980s, is out.

The ONS stresses that the changes are part of a process to reflect evolving consumer tastes over a long run of years rather than sudden shifts in popularity. Either way, the official shopping basket, which comprises 650 goods and services, provides sociologists with a useful insight into changes in social patterns.

This morning's inflation data, which is tipped to show that headline consumer price inflation held steady at 2.7 per cent in February, has been calculated using the new basket for the first time.

Other newcomers to the shopping basket include mobile phone ringtone downloads, credit card charges and mortgage arrangement fees. Their inclusion reflects the fact that Britons are spending relatively more on services than goods. A sharp fall in the cost of food and clothing over the past decade has seen their "weighting" within the basket slump dramatically.

Changing consumer tastes

In

* Olive oil , Probiotic drink, Broccoli, Shower head, Electric fan, Satellite navigation system, Flat-panel TV, Toothbrush, Diamond solitaire ring, Digital radio

Out

* Vegetable oil, Brie, Brussels sprouts, Children's wellington boots, Sunglasses, Portable TV, VHS video cassette, ÔGhettoblaster' sound system, Outdoor plant pot, Men's leather boots