basic foods vs basic foodstuffs

Both 'basic foods' and 'basic foodstuffs' are correct phrases, but they are used in slightly different contexts. 'Basic foods' refers to essential food items, while 'basic foodstuffs' is a more formal term that can encompass a wider range of food products.

Last updated: March 23, 2024 • 1506 views

basic foods

This phrase is correct and commonly used to refer to essential food items.

Use 'basic foods' when referring to fundamental or essential food items that are necessary for a balanced diet.

Examples:

Fruits and vegetables are considered basic foods for a healthy diet.
Rice and beans are staple basic foods in many cultures.

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The setting of maximum selling prices for certain basic foods is not foreseen at the moment.
Do the Commission's priorities include setting a maximum selling price for certain basic foods?
Subject: Nutritional changes in basic foods
Moreover, on some types of basic foods, the losses suffered by producers are very high.
The abovementioned food aid programme for the most deprived people in the Community is intended to help people in difficulty who cannot afford basic foods.
Mr President, the past year has seen startling hikes in the cost of basic foods, such that 100 million people are being pushed into poverty and hundreds of thousands put at risk of starvation.
If we regard agriculture as a strategic area, then an essential precondition for ensuring the security of food supplies is for the European Union to be self-sufficient, at least in the production of basic foods and animal fodders.
At the end of the day, this is a matter of food supply, and in developing countries it is a question of the essential supply of basic foods.
Food prices are rising rapidly and to such an extent that many inhabitants of poor countries can no longer afford the most basic foods.
Our group wishes these to be removed, or at least clarification that basic foods will be exempt.
We cannot remain unmoved by the suffering of North Korea's inhabitants as they have no access to basic foods or humanitarian assistance.
The future security of supply of basic foods requires a strong common agricultural policy (CAP).
Fourteen years after the overthrow of socialism, the Poles are consuming less, including less basic foods, than in 1980.
Nutritional profiles discriminate against basic foods, and the threshold values for salt, sugar and fat are entirely arbitrary - having been thought up by Commission officials on no scientific basis whatsoever.
Is it appropriate to lower VAT and indirect taxes on some basic foods and products at European level?
The wider Sahel and northern areas of Mali are already suffering and in Burkina Faso farmers have already lost up to 90% of their harvest and are having to sell their cattle to raise money for basic foods.
Certainly, today, consumers are overwhelmed by the increase in prices of basic foods and farmers in turn by the price of cattle feed.

Alternatives:

essential foods
staple foods
fundamental foods
primary foods
core foods

basic foodstuffs

This phrase is correct but less commonly used in everyday language. It is more formal and can refer to a broader range of food products.

Use 'basic foodstuffs' in more formal or technical contexts to refer to a variety of essential food items or ingredients.