The world food supply has grown increasingly dependent on a shrinking list of crops, such as wheat and maize, in the past 50 years with major consequences for human nutrition and global food security, according to a new study.

The report from the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Colombia documents for the first time what experts have long suspected: over the last five decades, human diets around the world have grown more homogeneous and are showing no signs of slowing.

‘More people are consuming more calories, protein and fat, and they rely increasingly on a short list of major food crops, like wheat, maize and soybean, along with meat and dairy products, for most of their food,” said lead author Colin Khoury, a scientist at CIAT, a member of the CGIAR consortium of research institutes. ‘These foods are critical for combating world hunger, but relying on a global diet of such limited diversity obligates us to bolster the nutritional quality of the major crops, as consumption of other nutritious grains and vegetables declines.”

The study, using data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation, encompassed more than 50 crops consumed in more than 150 countries (accounting for 98% of the world’s population) […]