The future of the American diet

For many Americans in 2017, dieting will translate into working out more, de-stressing or eating better, according to new research from Mintel, which finds that less than half (42%) of Americans consider their diet to be healthy.

Indeed, less than two in five (38%) consumers agree that healthy foods are worth the added expense and just 44% pay attention to serving sizes. Americans also generally appear to be largely distrusting of food brands, as only 14% believe regulatory approval indicates a food is healthy and just 16% trust the health claims on food and beverage packages.

What’s more, 23% of consumers agree that the U.S. Dietary Guidelines are good for them.

“Despite the fact that we’re seeing such a widespread and growing interest in healthy foods, relatively few Americans believe their diet is healthy,” said Billy Roberts, senior food and drink analyst at Mintel. “With consumers largely wary of even regulator-approved health food options, marketing healthy foods to skeptical consumers requires far more than merely an on-pack promise. The key to attracting these consumers is convincing them that products actually deliver on the healthy attributes they promise and that they are truly good for consumers and their families.”

Today’s health-conscious consumers are staying away from products containing high-fructose corn syrup (50%), sugar (47%), trans fat (45%) and saturated fat (43%). What’s more, over one quarter (28%) believe a food is unhealthy if it has artificial ingredients, with consumers actively avoiding products with elements described as "artificial,” such as artificial sweeteners (43%), artificial preservatives (38%) and artificial flavors (35%).

While genetically modified (G.M.) appears farther down on the list of ingredients consumers avoid when shopping for healthy foods (29%), consumer dislike of G.M. foods nearly matches their dislike for foods with artificial ingredients. More than one in five (22%) Americans said that they would not feed G.M. foods to people in their household. What’s more, nearly half (46%) agreed that G.M. foods are not suitable to eat, rising to 58% of consumers with a household income under $50,000.

Well ahead of other ingredients, consumers are interested in protein (63%), fiber (61%) and whole grains (57%) when purchasing foods they consider to be healthy. Protein is particularly of interest to more than half (54%) of iGen consumers, while consumers age 71 and older are most interested in whole grains (50%). What’s more, 32% of Americans overall agree that foods with a “natural” claim are good for their health and one third (33%) plan to buy more vegetarian/plant-based food products in the next year.

When making food purchase decisions, more than one quarter (27%) of consumers said that health concerns influence their choice of food and nearly as many (23%) indicated that they are more likely to buy food with a health claim on the package than food without. Looking at American families, Mintel research revealed that fathers are more likely to purchase food with a health claim (30%), as compared to 23% of mothers.

“While many consumers are avoiding certain ingredients when purchasing better-for-you foods, Americans are seeking out foods with added health attributes, namely protein, fiber and whole grains, indicating an opportunity for foods with added-health attributes to target consumers with health claims on-pack,” Mr. Roberts said.