The Federal Government could save $100 million dollars a year on health costs if people ate more vegetables according to a new study.

The report, commissioned by Horticulture Innovation Australia, found more than 90 per cent of Australians did not eat the recommended five servings of vegetables a day.

And scientific research found if people ate more vegetables, their risk of developing some forms of cancer could drop.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 3 minutes 59 seconds 3 m 59 s Lynne Pezzullo from Deloitte says that health costs could drop if vegetable production increases ( Nikolai Beilharz ) Download 1.8 MB

Lynne Pezzullo, lead partner of health economics from Deloitte Access Economics, said that men tended to eat fewer vegetables than women.

"At the moment, the average Australian consumption of vegetables is about 2.3 serves a day, and we're supposed to be eating five serves a day," she said.

"Females do have a slightly higher average consumption compared to males, and if males could increase their consumption to that of females, there would be significant health system gains."

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Ms Pezzullo said looking at the cost of health care and its relation to vegetable consumption was a new tactic for the vegetable industry.

"Some vegetables do contain things like antioxidants and potassium, and those kinds of things, along with others, can do things like block some carcinogens and they can also help prevent the hardening of the arteries," she said.

"Specifically, oesophageal and lung cancers have been linked.

"We use data from the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare to work out what the attributable factors is in relation to those cancers and cardiovascular disease, and that's how we estimate the cost savings and the improved healthy life that people can have."

Smoothies are a good way to consume more fruit and vegetables. ( Cassie White )

Ms Pezzullo said the modelling done by Deloitte showed that if vegetable consumption rose 10 per cent, there would be a $100 million saving to government in the form of reduced medical treatment and procedures.

"If there was a jump in consumption from 174 grams per day — which is the average at the moment — to 190 grams, that would result in $100 million in health expenditure savings," she said.

"Eating more vegetables can be as simple as having a vegetable smoothie in the morning, or taking some carrots to work. That way you can integrate them into your diet easily."

There is also a note of caution when it comes to vegetable serving sizes according to Ms Pezzullo.

"It's also important to weigh out what a serving size actually is," she said.

"I think there's a view that a serve is bigger or smaller than it actually is.

"For example, people think that a serve of salad is quite small, whereas it takes quite a lot of salad to get to 75 grams."