Natural Foods and Diets

Natural Low-Calorie Foods Fuel Diets

Consumers are always concerned with losing weight, but they have lost interest in diet foods. Instead, 60 percent of British consumers say they prefer food that is naturally low in fat or calories and 63 percent who have dieted over the past three years have done so using reduced calorie foods, according to a new report form Mintel. However, the battle for satiety continues as, 27 percent of consumers do not find low-calorie foods as filling and 27 percent also claim they end up eating more of them as a result.

Portion size is another concern for consumers buying diet foods, with almost three quarters of consumers (73 percent) claiming smaller pack sizes are often more expensive per unit. Instead, two fifths (41 percent) of consumers, prefer to eat smaller portions of regular food items to exercise their own portion control while continuing to eat the same regular food items they enjoy. Furthermore, while 38 percent of consumers say low-fat food has improved in taste and quality recently, more than half (54 percent) consumers claim to be more interested in taste than calorie or fat content. A skeptical 48 percent of consumers also feel low-fat foods are not as healthy as they seem, and 44 percent are concerned about the safety of some of the sweeteners used in diet foods.

“While manufacturers have been active in developing new product lines, consumers still take issue with the taste of many reduced calorie food items and also feel that portion sizes of low-calorie foods leave them feeling hungry, leading them to overeat," said Vivianne Ihekweazu, senior food and drink analyst at Mintel “The recent response from industry to this has seen a raft of new product launches that promise to keep consumers feeling full for longer."
Further Ihekweazu noted, “Consumers appear to be dispassionate about some aspects of the diet food sector, but demand is still there to be cultivated"

Foods with a weight control claim made up 27 percent of new food product launches in 2010, which was up from 18 percent in 2009. Low, no or reduced fat made up the majority of claims within weight control foods in the past year with 62 percent of weight control foods making this claim. Low, no or reduced calorie was the next biggest claim with 39 percent, followed by no additives/preservatives with 30 percent and microwavable with 26 percent. Low, no or reduced trans fat claims accounted for 19 percent of weight control foods launched in the past year.

The UK market for reduced calorie foods has continued to experience steady growth driven by innovation in the licensed food category. Between 2008 and 2009, value sales of reduced calorie foods increased by 1.8 percent to reach £2.1 billion while slimming aids grew by 6.2 percent over this period to reach £102 million.

More than one-third of Brits admit that they have been on a diet in the last three years and just under two million consumers belonging to a slimming club. Indeed, it seems Brits remain preoccupied with their weight, with just under one-third (30 percent) of consumers admitting that they are on a continuous quest to lose weight. Mintel’s research also reveals that the top five reasons for dieting are: ‘to lose weight’ with 89 percent of consumers stating this as the motivating factor, followed by ‘to be more healthy’ (50 percent), ‘to make myself more attractive’ (31 percent), ‘to control my cholesterol level’ (27 percent) and ‘to maintain weight’ (17 percent). A further 14 percent of Brits say they have started a diet to control their blood sugar levels and 3 percent because of a food allergy or intolerance.

http://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/news/2011/01/naturally-low-calorie-foods-fuel-diet-market.aspx

http://www.depsyl.com/

http://back2basicnutrition.com/

http://bionutritionalresearch.olhblogspace.com