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Food Industry Nudged Toward Change

Posted on: Monday, 17 January 2005, 21:00 CST

CHICAGO - Like many Americans at this time of year, the food industry has been talking a lot about healthy eating, improved nutrition and making better choices. Trans fats are out, whole grains are in and so are reminders about balanced lifestyles.

Whether or not it lasts longer than a New Year's resolution, that commitment to healthier foods should soon be more evident in the marketplace.

Faced with childhood obesity concerns and changing dietary guidelines, packaged-foods makers and fast-food companies are responding with products and initiatives that will surface on store shelves and menus and in vending machines and TV ads.

Bob Goldin, an analyst at Chicago-based food consultancy Technomic Inc., senses "a real ground shift" starting to take place in the industry - even if consumers don't sense it overnight.

"Slowly but surely, I think we are seeing some change," he said. "We're going to see some (more) product reformulation, changes in marketing practices and the introduction of foods that are healthier for you. But we're very, very early in the game."

So far, companies' efforts to meet growing demands for healthier, more nutritious products have been a combination of "a lot of baby steps and lip service," according to Goldin.

Federal officials took actions Wednesday that should make those steps bigger. They issued new dietary guidelines that set the stage for the revision of the familiar food pyramid in two months, advising Americans to eat more whole grains, fruits and vegetables and stick to fat-free or lowfat milk.

Food manufacturers tracked the year-long hearing process closely, taking notes and lobbying behind the scenes. They now are likely to come out with more whole-grain cereals and breads, more low-fat dairy products and perhaps changes in the ways french fries and chips are prepared, said Dr. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, a member of the dietary guidelines advisory committee.

"If they can say they're following the guidelines, they'll sell more products," said Pi-Sunyer, director of obesity research at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York.

The biggest catalyst for change is public alarm about worsening obesity and nutrition problems among children, according to Goldin, who cites "a fair amount of fear" at companies - fear of regulation, litigation and consumer backlash.

Source: Charleston Gazette, The

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