Roughly one-third of Americans believe sugar is the source of calories most likely to cause weight gain, prompting about 50% of consumers to look for the sweetening agent on the nutrition panel and ingredient deck and 46% to say they strongly want to reduce their consumption of sugar, according to research by Kerry. In response, food and beverage manufacturers increasingly are calling out their sugar reduction efforts, resulting in a 14% increase in sugar-free claims from 2011 to 2015, and a 21% increase in no sugar added label claims and a 32% increase in low sugar claims, according to Cargill. But just because consumers’ fear of sugar is mounting, doesn’t mean they are willing to sacrifice sweetness or sacrifice other ‘clean label’ values, such as a growing distaste for ‘artificial’ sweeteners and a desire for ‘natural’ ingredients – trapping manufacturers between a rock and a hard place.
Source: foodnavigator.com
Lightbulb Moment: The most exciting products coming out of this trend are the no sugar, no sweetener beverages like Spindrift and others. I am so proud of Americans! Want to know what else consumers are fearful of? That’s where Culinary Tides, Inc. comes in.