Those healthy claims on packages: We love them!

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Whatever falls out of the FDA’s ramped up attention to health claims on food, one thing seems to be clear: We consumers respond very well to them (which, of course, is why nutrition experts and advocacy groups want to see those claims policed a little better).

According to a report at nielsen.com, ‘the big winners on the healthy eating front, each posting double digit growth, were products with label claims for omega, high fructose corn syrup free, antioxidants, gluten-free, probiotic, calcium, fiber and low glycemic and no salt/sodium added.’ For example, last year sales were up 42% for foods with omega-fat claims, 29% for ones with antioxidant claims, 16% for gluten-free and 13% for probiotic.

Other claims like ‘natural’ continue to be hugely popular -- even though, as many of us know, ‘natural’ doesn’t necessarily mean anything remotely related to the kind of food that writer Michael Pollan urges us to eat, i.e. the kind of fare that Grandma would have served up in kitchens of yore. The FDA doesn’t regulate the term (the USDA now does).

Read the article here. It’s one of a series. Another features organic food (‘Organic Enthusiasts Remain Loyal’), and another looks at the issue of healthy eating and cost, concluding that ‘Healthy Eating Doesn’t Have to Cost More.’ Among its shrewd advice: Tap water costs less. And so does consuming less, ‘and although no one ever likes to hear this, the most successful diets are the ones that involve less food.’

Finally, while we’re on the topic of healthy eating on a budget, check out some tips we ran about that a while back, written by freelancer Karen Ravn.

-- Rosie Mestel