New Dietary Guidelines Suggest 20% Reduction in Sugar

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced a drastic cut down on sugar. New dietary guidelines suggest a 20% drop in consumption of sugar-based calories.

The USDA and HHS added yet another diet restriction to the Dietary Guidelines that are renewed every five years. With an aim of reducing obesity and chronic diseases, the new diet rule seeks to limit the amount of sugar Americans have in food and beverages. Studies state that the average American consumes 270 sugar-based calories (or more than 13% of calories) on a daily basis.

Following the guidelines would mean a 60 calories reduction and on a national average, the numbers will go as high as 2.2 tonnes of sugar and corn syrup. Here’s how the implementation of the dietary guidelines will work out.

New Dietary Guidelines for Consumers

USDA Dietary Guidelines 2015 2020 SugarAs a step towards tackling the problem of obesity and health related issues, the 2015-2020 dietary guidelines draw attention to not just sugar, but caloric content of added sweeteners in food and beverage as well. The fitness-oriented consumer has a lot to gain regarding a better handle on diet plans. However, consumers will now have to be extra cautious about their purchases. Although limiting sugar intake helps consumer health goals, reading through product labels will become a challenge to the authenticity of alternatives. Meanwhile, health advocates believe that very few Americans will abide by the dietary guidelines.

 

Impact on Manufacturers

FDA New Nutrition Label 2016

On top of the new sugar guidelines, the FDA is proposing a new nutrition label for food products.

Introducing a decline in sugar consumption has a direct link with losses incurred by an entire industry dedicated to food and beverage manufacturers, especially soda and candy brands. On a larger scale, sugar and corn companies are in for a major setback. Manufacturers are beginning to react to the dietary guidelines in their own way. Just recently, The Sugar Association that represents several manufacturing companies dismissed the guidelines claiming that it has its basis in “weak science”. The American Beverage Association has funded multiple initiatives to fight tax and labelling laws. Coca-Cola took a different route and began promoting exercise regimes over diet plans for fitness. On the other hand, companies like Cargill have created low-sugar and non-sugar alternatives.

For the guidelines to be successful, the U.S government will have to conduct a lot more research and bring more awareness of sugar content on food labels.

Inspired by reuters.com

Pizza Ranks as America’s Top Comfort Food

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Most of us turn to food as a source of comfort. Just imagine coming home from a hectic day at work, switching off your phone, cooking or ordering your favorite comfort food, and curling up in front of the TV with no interruptions – sounds fabulous, right?

harris poll top comfort food america pizza

America’s Top Comfort Food

Now, there could be a debate that there are other stress busters out there. To get a definitive answer, The Harris Poll recently conducted a study where 53% of Americans admitted that they eat more under stress while 67% said they opt for their preferred comfort food to think their way through during tough times. What’s surprising is they don’t feel guilty in doing so! So what emerged as the king of comfort food in America?

Hold on…it is…pizza! That’s right; the survey included 2,252 U.S. adults and won by a whopping 15%, which is more than twice as many votes than any other food choice. Chocolate and ice cream scored second place at 7% each, Mac & cheese came in at 5%, and chips finished at 4%. Strangely, pizza was selected by most people when demographics including gender, generation, and geographic region were evaluated. Barring people over 70 who preferred ice cream, pizza is a clear winner!


But Wait…

While pizza might be the ultimate comfort food, it is not the best option for all situations. For instance, Americans would prefer soup instead if they are sick – the figures say that 39% want soup with an extra 22% wishing for chicken noodle soup. This is true across all key demographics. Ice cream, toast, and pizza come to 3%, 2%, and 2% respectively when sick. During celebration time, 22% adults wish for steak and 12% opt for cake. To round out the top five: pizza, lobster, and other types of seafood at 7%, 4%, and 3% respectively.

Is Comfort Food Only For Bad Days?

Although some would argue that stress, bad days, and depression sort of complement each other, the comfort food dynamics might show a different picture. 45% of the Americans in the study choose comfort food when they are stressed, 43% after a tough day at work, and 33% during a depression. However, not everyone needs to be down in the dumps to dig into their favorite comfort food. It can happen on a good day for 38% while 37% may do it on their birthday.

Inspired by theharrispoll.com

Can We Make Comfort Food Better For You?

We all have good days and bad days. Sometimes we need a little comfort food in our lives. But does comfort food have to be so bad for us? At NutriFusion, we believe that comfort food can be made better for us. We are not saying, you should eat it every day if it’s healthier, but it wouldn’t penalize your health so much when you do eat it.

Michael Pollan says food is not healthy it’s nutritious. Somewhere down the line, we lost sight of that in the food industry. We started to strip away the nutrition in our products and fortify them with man-made, synthetic, chemical nutrition. NutriFusion developed a product to change the packaged food and nutrition industry forever. Our patented method stabilizes the nutrients (vitamins and minerals) in fruits and vegetables so that processed food companies can easily add living nutrition to their products. We believe our products are not a substitute for eating fruits and vegetables, but a better for you alternative as the majority of Americans transition to eating healthier. Learn more about NutriFusion for you category below:

Healthy Foods Could Lead to Overeating

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Our weight loss goals are often accompanied by a structured, well-balanced diet of healthy foods. We now know that healthier food, not “less” food, is the key to losing weight and maintaining an active life. However, the healthy eaters are now facing a new contradiction in their diet plan.

Dietitians often hear their patients say that they eat healthily, yet they still tend to gain weight. This common problem has its basis in the belief that if something is healthy, you can have more of it. When it comes to junk food, we try to avoid them or eat smaller portions. Healthy foods, on the other hand, are seen for all their benefits. Instead, we side-track the prescribed quantity of consumption, and this is where our diet plan goes wrong.

The Irony: Healthy Foods Leading to Overeating 

A study conducted by the University of Texas-Austin revealed in full the “healthy equals less filling” theory. Junk food is loaded with carbs, oil, and artificial (appealing) flavoring. Eating foods like a hotdog or a burger will instantly leave you feeling full for quite some time. On the other hand, healthy foods are higher in nutrients, not carbs and are considered for the most part a lot less filling than junk food. The result is that we end up overeating healthy food and gaining weight in spite of avoiding junk food.

The research includes three experiments on different groups of Americans. 50 undergraduate students were asked to state whether they found healthy food less filling. Then, a group of 40 graduates had to report their hunger levels after consuming a cookie from a pack with nutritional value and a cookie that was represented as unhealthy. The last experiment involved assessing the food choices of 72 undergraduate students who watched a short film to test how the portrayal of food affects an individual’s inclination to have more or less of it.

What’s more? Participants who weren’t aware of the “you tend to eat more of healthy food” theory also concluded that the healthy cookie wasn’t filling. The study reveals how food labels can be responsible for how we approach certain foods.

Tackling the Obesity Epidemic

healthy foods or junk food childhood obesity

Obesity was already an important issue before health foods were added as a possible cause. As a solution, consumers must look for food that is nutritious and filling instead of just looking for items with low-fat and caloric content. Knowing your nutrition and protein sources is the key to creating a diet plan and schedule that keeps you feeling energetic and full through the day.

Our focus should be on eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. When we do eat packaged food products whether they are healthy or not, we should eat those with moderation. It’s easy to overeat when we have been told to do so for so many years. How will you limit yourself to healthy foods in the future?

Inspired by medicalnewstoday.com

 

Clean Food Labels Are More Important Than Ever

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Americans are becoming more cautious about what they eat. According to a recent consumer study, 64% of Americans check the ingredients of food items that they purchase as compared to only 53 percent of Europeans. The research was done by research company GNT Group with Fooddive.com noting the study. This is a noticeable increase in the number of Americans reading food labels when compared to a study that was reported five years ago in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. The study concluded that around 51.6 percent of Americans have their eyes on food labels before they even make a purchase.

“The study’s result clearly shows that natural ingredients have become more important all around the globe. Many manufacturers already comply with consumers’ wishes by, for example, using coloring foods exclusively made from natural raw materials and clearly indicating that on the label. This development will continue to gather momentum in the upcoming years.” -Hendrick Hoeck, GNT Group Managing Director

Simple Ingredients and Clean Food Labels

This new clean label development is noticeable in supermarket food aisles. It is evident from the iconic blue box for Kraft Dinner mac n cheese to the cheery Lucky Charms which have been reported to be manufactured soon without any artificial ingredients. Americans have indeed made a turn for the better when it comes to healthier food choices. Of course, a healthy diet is just one part of becoming healthy. A person who wishes to attain good health must also practice an active lifestyle and should make efforts to exercise daily to reduce stress in their lives.

The study also points out that consumers are not just looking for healthy food, but they want easy to understand food labels and nutrient information. Consumers are also choosing foods that are natural which means no additives, artificial coloring, artificial preservative, and chemical ingredients. By choosing natural and preservative-free food, consumers can guarantee a better quality diet. Chemicals in food are known to cause cancer, allergies, and chronic illnesses. Therefore, extra effort should be used to find healthy and natural foods in the packaged food aisles. Checking for clean food labels will give consumers more power in choosing the best food items for their family and it will also increase the value of their money spent on groceries.

Inspired by fooddive.com

Add NutriFusion for Plant-Based Nutrients and Clean Food Labels

The United States is experiencing an extreme nutritional deficiency amongst its people. The majority of nutrients we consume on a daily basis are developed in a lab with synthetic chemicals. NutriFusion saw this problem and developed a breakthrough innovation for food and beverage manufacturers. Our patent pending method stabilizes vitamins and minerals in whole fruits and vegetables so that they can easily be added to many of our favorite packaged foods. Our ingredients are simple and easy to understand. Consumers immediately know that their nutrients are naturally sourced from fruits and vegetables. We believe our ingredient is essential to processed food over the next twenty years. Americans are not going to start eating fruits and vegetables overnight, so the least we can do is pack their favorite snacks and packaged foods with natural nutrition. If you are interested in learning more about NutriFusion, please visit your respective category.

New Book “Ingredients” Uncovers World of Additives

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A new book called “Ingredients” by photographer Dwight Eschliman and writer Steve Ettlinger was recently launched and this is definitely more than a must-read. “Ingredients” seeks to expose 75 common food additives by providing an easy-to-read encyclopedia which will give insight to the structure, use and history of each additive.

Eschliman had the task of sourcing and categorizing each additive before taking a photo.  He said that he was surprised as to how thorough the world was with white powders and clear liquid ingredients. The photographer also said that most of the ingredients were not hard to identify for purchase. Around 60 percent of the ingredients were from chemical supply companies that purchase their additives from China.

The two authors are promoting eating more fruits and vegetables and cutting down on processed foods. They plan to use the book to expose how dangerous some additives are and to raise awareness among consumers. Hopefully, this will start to force food companies to commit to clean labels and natural additives in the future.

“Everybody wanted us to align very much with those on the soapbox talking about how bad the food was…I wanted to take some measures to prevent that.” – Dwight Eschliman

Two Common Additives to Understand

MSG

additives food ingredients msg

Eschliman’s first step was to organize the additives into three categories: neutral, negative, and positive. He admitted that he initially placed monosodium glutamate (MSG) in the negative pile because of the additive’s reputation for causing “Chinese restaurant syndrome” – health concerns such as heart palpitations, allergic reactions, and so on. However, scientists now agree that this negative reputation is entirely unsupported. Glutamate is a naturally occurring amino acid. It is a flavor-enhancer that makes tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese tasty. It has developed a bad reputation due to poor understanding of the structure of MSG and public mistrust.

ADA

Another misunderstood additive is a yellow powder called azodicarbonamide, or ADA. Last year Vani Hari, blogger and activist behind the name Food Babe, petitioned Subway to remove the “yoga mat chemical” found in its bread. The production of ADA has been documented to cause asthmatic symptoms and skin irritations to people who manufacture it, but has no evidence of any risk to people who consume it.

It definitely sounds strange that the same additives found in yoga mats, fertilizers, fire retardants, rust dissolvers and rocket fuel can also be found in the food we eat. But it doesn’t really mean that we are eating these items. Additives such as salt, for instance, are composed of sodium and chlorine and have an estimated 14,000 industrial uses.

Ettlinger and Eschliman provide a fantastic insight about additives in their book. There is even trivintor each additive on every single page. It’s easy to be scared of these additives when you have very little knowledge about each of them. “As it happens, it doesn’t take much to understand,” Ettlinger says.

Inspired by npr.org

Infographic: Plant Based Protein Supplements

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The world of protein is starting to take a hard look in the mirror. Whey and meat sources work tremendously well at building muscle, but they have several downsides. Innovative companies have started to harness a more natural and holistic approach to plant based proteins from peas, brown rice, hemp, and soy. Below is an infographic that makes the case for plant based protein supplements and their advantage over traditional whey based protein supplements.

plant based protein

Infographic created by artofwellbeing.com

 

Plant Based Protein Innovation @ Beyond Meat

A proud partner of NutriFusion® is the plant-based protein innovator, Beyond Meat. Beyond Meat is transforming the way we think about meat with new pea protein-based burgers and chicken. We are an active supporter of their commitment to clean, plant-based protein. Check out this short video from Beyond Meat about their products and the leadership team behind the future of protein.

Beyond Meat products are committed to natural ingredients and use our GrandFusion fruit and vegetable nutrients in a variety of their products. We are excited to see their brand grow and shape the bright future of protein!

Health and Wellness Influencing Food Decisions

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Taste, price and convenience are no longer the main factors that help consumers decide which food and beverage to buy. According to a study by Deloitte, Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) called “Capitalizing on the Shifting Consumer Food Value Equation,” about half of the surveyed Americans considered health and wellness, safety, social impact, experience and transparency as “evolving drivers.” These new drivers are examined in addition to traditional factors such as taste, price and convenience. The study also revealed that these new “evolving drivers” play into food decisions regardless of the respondents’ demographics.

consumer values food decisions study

No Artificial Ingredients & Clear Labels Connect Health to Food Safety

Americans are no longer connecting food safety according to only near-term risks to health. Around 74 percent of respondents agreed that food safety should not just be limited to food that can cause immediate harm. Health, wellness, and transparency are all connected to safety which is why food factors including freedom from dangerous ingredients, having clear and accurately made product labels, and the use of non-artificial ingredients should be utilized in describing packaged, processed foods.

“Food retailers are inherently ‘shopper advocates’ and they respect that their customers want both genuine and transparent shopping experiences. Our study sheds light on how companies can better understand the intersection of these new consumer food values and their own growth strategies.” – Mark Baum, Chief Collaboration Officer @ FMI

More Key Insights on Future Food Decisions

Furthermore, the study also addresses several important points regarding the shifting value equation for the industry. According to the results of the survey, the following affect consumer values and food decisions as well.

  • Preferences and tastes of food will continue to fragment
  • Retailers have a unique ability to influence consumers’ decisions
  • New and smaller companies will use new technologies, third-party affiliations, and increase engagement to gain trust.
  • Larger companies in the industry will do all they can to use new, unique value propositions; and market success will be affected by present competitive advantages.

“Today’s consumers have a higher thirst for knowledge than previous generations and they are putting the assessment of that information into their value equation. There is no doubt that the consumer value equation has changed – as taste, price and convenience are now only the foundation with the need to leverage the emerging value drivers. Brands that win with consumers will likely be those that provide the information they seek, well beyond what is on the label.” – Jim Flannery, SVP of Operations & Industry Collaboration @ GMA

Inspired by prnewswire.com

NutriFusion® is Here to Help

Consumer values have been changing over the past ten years, and many companies have tried to seize the opportunity.  Some companies have done an excellent job of creating healthier products, and others have suffered the fate of misleading consumers with health and wellness claims. It’s time to start taking these demands seriously and match your R&D efforts with the value of the future consumer. People have finally connected their health and wellness to food safety. How will you reinvent your products without artificial ingredients and clean labels to enable the consumer to make smart food decisions?

nutrifusion

We would like to think that NutriFusion® could be the answer for some of your new products. Instead of fortifying  your packaged foods with synthetic vitamins, you should try our GrandFusion powders. We create non-GMO nutrients from whole fruits and vegetables. So why doesn’t everyone do this? It’s a difficult process and we have made huge advances in our nutrient stabilization method over the past 3 years. NutriFusion® will give you the ability to clean up your ingredient deck and make powerful claims about where your nutrients come from. If you are interested in learning more, please visit your respective category below.

Food is not Healthy, it’s Nutritious

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Will we be able to eat healthy food? According to Harry Balzer, an NPD Group analyst, “Never, because the moment something becomes popular, someone will find a reason why it’s not healthy.” But what is healthy food really about? We attribute healthy to foods such as kale while we think of a Big Mac as something that is not. But the thing is, kale salads are not really healthy but they are nutritious. When prepared well, a kale salad would also taste delicious. Describing it as healthy is simply beyond words. If you were to eat kale only then you would become sick.

 

 “Healthy is a bankrupt word.Our food isn’t healthy. We are healthy. Our food is nutritious. I’m all about the words. Words are the key to giving people the tools they need to figure out what to eat. Everyone is so confused.” – Roxanne Sukol, preventive medicine specialist at Cleveland Clinic and medical director of the center’s Wellness Enterprise

Words Matter…Food is Nutritious

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Technically the food we eat is not healthy; we will be healthy if we eat nutritious food. And healthy is not the only misleading word widely used in packaged and processed food products. Take the word protein. Protein is definitely good for the body since it’s needed for building strong muscles and other important bodily functions. We have grown fond of protein and now consume it at an extraordinary rate compared to our ancestors. But take eating pork cracklings, which is all protein, gets frowned upon because we believe this food has huge fat content. It is made of pork skin which is made of protein under a layer of fat. When pig skin is fried, fat is rendered and the remaining connective tissue pops. Pork skin may actually be an ideal protein snack to get you throughout the day.

Another word is “refined” which is commonly added to wheat which has been stripped of the bran, the germ, and all the impurities removed as well resulting in a pure starch. Refined wheat is technically devoid of all oils, iron and vitamins that make wheat nutritious. Sukol said, “Flour stripped of the nutrition that makes it valuable to our bodies but reduces shelf life. Food manufacturers, therefore,“enrich” it. Food companies add the iron that was removed from the refining process, but not enough of what we need. Sukol also said that these additions along with the lack of fiber take a toll on our metabolic systems resulting in diabetes and metabolic syndromes.

Food is either nutritious or not and we are healthy or not. It’s a guarantee though that if we eat food that is nutritious, we will be able to improve our health.

Inspired by washingtonpost.com