uk trends

• Fizzy drinks make way for smaller bottles of mineral water as shoppers try to be healthier
• Hair straighteners replace hairdryers and lipsticks give way to lip gloss
• Cereal bars are included for the first time while pitta bread has lost out to garlic bread in the nation’s tastes.
• Other new items include allergy tablets, liquid soap and Blu-ray disc players.
• Among this year’s discarded items are disposable cameras, eyesight tests and squash court hire.

Office for National Statistics collects more than 180,000 prices every month for a basket of about 650 goods and services. These are then used to calculate the Consumer Price Index – which stands at 3.5 per cent