Britain appears to have a vitamin C problem that is less dramatic than scurvy at sea and rather more familiar: millions of people may simply not be getting enough.
A new analysis of UK diet data suggests that a daily 150ml glass of 100% fruit juice could help narrow the shortfall, particularly among older men and teenage girls. It is a modest proposal, not a citrus-based revolution.
Britain’s Average Vitamin C Intake Hides a Problem
Researchers at Ulster University analysed dietary information from more than 3,500 participants in the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey.
Average vitamin C intake across the population was broadly in line with recommendations. Averages, though, have a habit of looking reassuring while the people at the bottom of the table quietly disappear from view.
Almost one in five people were not reaching what the researchers described as an optimal daily intake. Nearly 10% — an estimated 6.99 million people — consumed less than 25mg a day, roughly the amount found in a third of an orange.
Almost one in 100, or close to 700,000 people, had intakes low enough to put them at risk of deficiency.
Those figures do not show that millions of Britons have scurvy. They do show that a respectable national average can conceal a sizeable nutritional gap.
Older Men and Teenage Girls Face the Greatest Risk
Older men and teenage girls emerged as the groups most at risk of low vitamin C intake.
That matters because vitamin C contributes to normal immune function, collagen formation, skin health and wound healing. Severe deficiency is rare, but it can lead to fatigue, joint and muscle pain, swollen or bleeding gums, and red or blue spots on the skin.
The historical image is of sailors staring mournfully at an empty fruit barrel. The modern version is less theatrical: irregular meals, restricted diets, rising food costs and people whose vegetable intake is largely theoretical.
Doctors writing in BMJ Case Reports in 2024 warned that scurvy may be “re-emerging” in the context of cost-of-living pressures and bariatric surgery after treating a patient in Australia.
One case report does not establish a population trend. It does, however, remind us that old diseases do not retire merely because they have poor public relations.
Why a 150ml Glass of Fruit Juice Could Matter
The Ulster University team used mathematical modelling to examine how different levels of fruit-juice consumption might affect vitamin C intake.
Its results suggested that increasing the number of people drinking one 150ml glass a day would produce the largest improvement.
“Achieving the recommended 5-a-day is difficult for many people, however this research has shown that 100% fruit juice is a convenient and accessible source of vitamin C.”
Fruit juice already supplies around a quarter of the vitamin C consumed by UK adults, according to the study — a contribution similar to that made by whole fruit and cooked vegetables.
Yet only four in ten people drink it regularly. Among those who do, average consumption is about 100ml to 130ml a day.
The model is not proposing an Olympic event in orange juice. It is asking whether a small increase in consumption could move more people above the lower end of the vitamin C intake range.
Fruit Juice, Free Sugar and an Awkward Trade-Off
Fruit juice occupies an awkward seat at the nutrition table. It contains useful micronutrients, but it also contains free sugars and lacks the fibre of whole fruit.
Treating a glass of juice as nutritionally identical to an orange would be convenient. It would also be wrong.
The study found that reducing fruit-juice intake made only a small difference to overall free-sugar consumption because most sugar in UK diets came from other sources, including soft drinks, biscuits, cakes and sweets. At the same time, cutting juice reduced vitamin C intake.
That is a trade-off, not a licence to drink it by the pint.
A small serving of 100% fruit juice can contribute vitamin C, but it should not displace water, whole fruit or vegetables. The useful part of this research is its realism. People who struggle to reach five portions a day may find 150ml of juice easier than another lecture.
Dietary Modelling Offers a Clue, Not a Cure
The research is based on dietary modelling rather than a clinical trial. It estimates how population intake might change under different consumption scenarios; it does not prove that adding fruit juice will improve health outcomes for every individual.
Diet records also carry familiar limitations. People forget, misjudge portions and occasionally remember themselves as more virtuous eaters than the evidence might suggest.
Even so, national diet surveys remain valuable for identifying broad patterns and population groups that may be missing out.
The strongest conclusion is therefore a measured one: 100% fruit juice may offer a practical way to improve vitamin C intake for some people, particularly where whole-fruit and vegetable consumption is low.
A Useful Habit, Not a Nutritional Miracle
The study’s appeal lies in the size of the proposed change. A 150ml glass is ordinary, familiar and easy to measure.
It will not repair a poor diet on its own, and it does not deserve a halo. Nutrition rarely turns on one heroic meal. More often, it is decided by small habits repeated until they become unremarkable.
Britain does not need to rediscover the orange. It may simply need to stop leaving it — or its juice — off the shopping list.
