European nations top for nutritious, plentiful and healthy food, Oxfam says

The Netherlands nudged past France and Switzerland as the country with the most nutritious, plentiful and healthy food, while the United States and Japan failed to make it into the top 20, a new ranking released by Oxfam showed.

Chad came in last on the list of 125 nations, behind Ethiopia and Angola, in the food index released on Tuesday by the international development organisation.

"The Netherlands have created a good market that enables people to get enough to eat. Prices are relatively low and stable and the type of food people are eating is balanced," said Deborah Hardoon, a senior researcher at Oxfam who compiled the results.

"They've got the fundamentals right and in a way that is better than most other countries."

Oxfam ranked the nations on the availability, quality and affordability of food and dietary health. It also looked at the percentage of underweight children, food diversity and access to clean water, as well as negative health outcomes such as obesity and diabetes.

European countries dominated the top of the ranking but Australia squeezed into the top 12, tying with Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Luxembourg at No 8. China was mid-table, ranked 57th.

Britain failed to make the top 10, tying for the 13th spot, because of the volatility of its food prices compared to other goods, which Oxfam said was on a level with Peru (51), Malta (33) and Kyrgyzstan (65).