Learn To Love Your Sprouts!

Its official: Britain is a nation of sprout-eaters! Despite what you might think, sprouts are one of the nation's most widely eaten vegetables. Research out today reveals that 75% of Brits say they eat sprouts, 81% of whom cook with them.

The survey, conducted for the Learn to Love a Sprout campaign, found that younger people aren't so fond of the smallest member of the Brassica family - only 53% of this age group said they ever eat sprouts.

The killer question: Do sprouts give you wind?

Not beating about the bush, respondents were asked whether they believed that Brussels sprouts give you wind. Over half those surveyed (56%) believe that they do, with a further 16% preferring not to say or claiming to be unsure.

This belief seems to be more popular among the 35-44s and the 45-54s, with 60% of each of these age groups agreeing, while only 51% of 16-24s believe it to be true.

The East of England tops the charts having the highest number of people owning up to suffering from a touch of post-sprout flatulence (60%), with Yorkshire coming a close second at (59%), while only half of Londoners believe it to be true.

Sprouts only cause problems when they are cooked for too long. "After between 5 and 8 minutes, the cellulose breaks down and the sprouts start to release their sulphur compounds," explains James. So if you want to enjoy a flatulence-free Christmas, be sure to keep your sprouts' cooking time to a minimum.

Where are the nation's sprout lovers?

Sprout consumption is highest in the South West, with 82% of people claiming to eat sprouts, while Londoners rank last with only 70%.

Young people are least likely to cook sprouts: only four out of ten 16-24 year olds admit to cooking sprouts, compared with 93% of the over 55s. Again, the South West were top of the charts when it comes to the regions with 87% of those questioned saying they cooked sprouts.

"It would seem that sprouts appear to appeal to an older age group and we suspect that young people have been put off sprouts by bad memories of soggy, khaki, sulphur-smelling vegetables", says James Wong of the Learn to Love a Sprout Campaign. "Sprouts only need to be cooked for 5-8 minutes and this way you get the full benefit of their amazing health benefits. There are many exciting ways to cook sprouts: try them stir fried with bacon, steamed and tossed in butter with almonds or cashews, or pureed with chestnuts and a splash of cream", says James.

To cross or not to cross?

Some traditions, it seems, are set to last with over two-thirds of those questioned saying that they put a cross in sprouts before cooking them. Interestingly, it seems the further north you live, the less likely you are to cross your sprouts: only just over half of Scots cross their sprouts while 70% of those in London and the Southeast claiming to do it.

The expert view: James says that you only need to cross larger sprouts so that they cook in the same time as smaller ones.