A Weighty Issue: Ozempic, Wegovy Versions Considered for Kids

With 17% of children ages 10 to 17 considered obese, consideration is being given to whether diabetes drugs like Ozempic should be made available to kids. Health experts have concerns.

Study: Food is Medicine Initiatives Improve Health, Reduce Spend

The costs of suboptimal diets in the U.S. due to health care spending and lost productivity are estimated at $1.1 trillion each year — equaling the economic output of the entire food sector.

Ozempic’s Business Impact: Weight Loss Drug Could Make Snack-Makers Tighten Belts

Blockbuster diabetes drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, which have become the darlings of the weight-loss industry, could have an unintended side-effect: shrinking the bottom lines of major snack-making companies. Junk food has been widely blamed …

Health and Wellness Movement Remains Fertile Ground for F&B Brands

Companies like Grand View Research and Future Market Insights have produced a host of health and wellness reports recently. The reports noted, for example, that the global prebiotics market size is valued at nearly $6 …

Is the Greenwashing Wave Crashing?

In the age of transparency, nearly half (45%) of shoppers have heard of greenwashing and one-third (33%) are skeptical of green labels and sustainability claims.

Latam Food Week Highlights Region’s Healthy Cuisine

Experts note that Latin foods, which rely mostly on plant-based ingredients, can be quite healthy, playing to many consumers’ current focus on wellness. That was a key point of emphasis earlier this week during Latam …

What Consumers Really Think About Artificial Sweeteners

In mid-July, the World Health Organization (WHO) flagged aspartame, an artificial sweetener frequently used in diet sodas, as a possible carcinogen. Consumers responded to the news with a resounding shrug.

The Top 5 Food as Medicine Functional Ingredients

Everything you eat affects your chemistry, and scientists have long recognized that certain foods contain healing substances. From customized nutrition to treating specific disorders, the concept of “food as medicine” is nothing new. Yet, some …

Report Argues Americans Don’t Eat ‘Nearly Enough’ Protein

Are you eating enough protein? Some experts argue the daily recommended 0.8 grams per kg of body weight isn’t nearly enough. “There seems to be no question that protein is needed in times of growth …

What Do Americans Think ‘Natural’ Foods Are?

When a food says “natural” on it, 51% of U.S. adults assume the product is made entirely of whole ingredients and 49% believe there are no preservatives.

Go with Your Gut: Marketing Advice for the ‘Gut Health Boom’

Gut health has become the latest health obsession for consumers, and medical professionals and brand marketers are taking note.

The 15 Healthiest Low-Carb Foods

The low-carb foods market might be bloated, but opportunities remain for food and beverage companies to take advantage.

The Consumer Curiosity Report Reveals Future Food Trends

The Consumer Curiosity Report was the first inaugural report developed by Curious Plot to not only learn how food-forward consumers think and behave, but to help establish, foster, and share new food trends from home to aisle, retail to restaurant.

Top 5 Sources of Prebiotics for Gut Health

As we continue to discover how gut health impacts our overall well-being, scientists are exploring the value of consuming prebiotics to maintain a healthy gut microbiome.

Protein Bars Proliferate, Yet they Confuse Consumers

Amid the health and wellness movement, protein bars are flying off grocery shelves. Yet, it’s debatable how healthy many of these protein snacks actually are in 2023. The protein bar market has become massive. According …

Emergent Functional Foods Are Flooding the Market

Cereal, by most conventions, is a breakfast food. Yes, cereal can also make a great snack, and has been snackified for decades as a familiar and kids-friendly alternative to vegetables and other foods with more …

Back-to-School Season Crunches Budgets

The average family back-to-school spend is $890.07, driven largely by the cost of electronics.

What Does Wellness Mean to Consumers?

Although the terms “health” and “wellness” are often lumped together or used interchangeably, there is an important distinction between the two. Understanding this difference is essential to understanding the modern consumer.

Analysis: Has Aspartame Gotten an Unfair Rap?

By now, you’ve likely seen the ominous headlines about aspartame being deemed carcinogenic. The news about the sweetener – which is commonly used in sodas – was met with alarm by many consumers. But what …

Can Buzzfeed’s AI Chefbot Save Your Kitchen?

Tasty enjoys over 1 billion cross-platform views each month and is widely regarded as the most robust and user-generated food community and platform on the internet. That the big cheese of big apps and data is involved with AI recommending food choices and providing budget and grocery tips should not surprise anyone.  

Customizable Multivitamins Have Nutritionists Intrigued

The world’s first fully customizable multivitamin has been launched, and some accomplished nutritionists expect the trend to gain momentum.

Top Trends at the Summer Fancy Food Show

“Companies must stand out,” said Food Institute CEO Brian Choi. “To win in the marketplace, products have to have a differentiated selling point – just being ‘good’ is not good enough in this environment.”

Hot Dogs, Happiness, and the Health-Conscious Consumer

In the age of the health-conscious consumer, devotion to the traditional hot dog reflects a growing movement towards “all things in moderation.” What does this mean for plant-based varieties?

Four “Toxic” Food Additives that Increase Appetite

Across the U.S., the number of households purchasing products that contain potentially harmful food additives appears to be on the rise. Between 2001 and 2019, the proportion of purchased food products that contained additives increased …

Fungi in the “New Age” of Functional Energy Drinks

While functional fungi are now a well-established ingredient in coffees, powders, and shots, their use in the ready-to-drink (RTD) energy category is just starting to gain momentum.

The Continued Rise of the Flexitarian Diet

Gregory Banzon, chief operating officer of Century Pacific Food, has come to a decisive conclusion: Grocers should target “flexitarian” consumers – those who only occasionally eat meat – because that movement “could be the future …

The Better-for-You Blockbuster Snacking Season Has Arrived

As families gear up for movie night across the country and CPG companies figure out how to get their snacks off the shelves and into the hands of consumers before the previews even start, what constitutes a typical movie night snack, for many, is going the way of the dinosaurs.

Ozempic & Other Drugs: Explaining the Weight-Loss Medication Craze

Several medications approved to treat diabetes are being used as “miracle” weight-loss drugs, and the category continues to grow.

Analysis: The Healthiest Superfoods

Eat a balanced diet. We’ve heard that edict since we were children, but now all the shouting is about superfoods and supplements that can do everything from lower blood pressure to improve gut health to …

5 Plant-Forward Alt-Meat Innovations

Innovators are shaking up the alt-meat category with plant-forward creations that contain more whole foods and less processed ingredients. Here are five companies to watch.

Groundbreaking Consumer Insight: The Snack 50 Psychological Ranking

According to Circana Group and reported by The Wall Street Journal, nearly half of American consumers snack three times or more every day, a figure up 8% in the past two years. Last year, U.S. snack sales soared to over $180 billion, up 11% from the previous year.

American Jerk: The Salty, Smoky, Spicy, and Thriving Business of Jerky

There are many notable jerky and meat snack companies out there and most are thriving as the snackification of America continues apace. Jerky in any form has been a staple snack since navigators used sextets to sail the seven seas and discover more jerky, as John Smith is purported to have in the early 1600s when he marked a map of Virginia and wrote, “as drie as their jerkin beefe in the West Indies.”

5 Healthy Alt-Meat Products

The Food Institute spoke with two dietitians to outline some of the healthiest alt-meat products available today and break down best practices for reading nutrition labels.

Top 5 Healthiest Diets

A diet may help you lose weight quickly, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a healthy choice. To help people parse through the wealth of information (and misinformation) available today, the American Heart Association (AHA) …

‘Soup and Shake Diet’ Sparks Controversy

The soup and shake diet has grabbed headlines recently, but some medical experts fear its drastic requirements send a bad message.

Study: 3 Diet Factors Driving Rise in Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes continues to be diagnosed at a staggering rate, even though it’s often preventable—so what, exactly, is going on?