New Food Trends #7: Beneficial Foods

The drive towards beneficial foods has been going on for some time, but you can expect it to really come full force. You've previously called food nutritional, healthy, or what have you, but now you'll start to see more and more foods with nutrients added or bad stuff removed as in “fat-free,” and “gluten-free.” Just as food used to be “fortified,” more foods will be pumped up with nutrients, and probably a new word will be coined to designate beneficial foods.

Consider the NuVal system, already underway, where foods are ranked according to their nutritional value, and we're liable to see some contenders for healthy food identifiers enter the fray.  This movement is all designed to help customers quickly choose foods that are good for them.  Food producers and marketers are experts at detecting trends.

Even though we're used to foods that have calcium added, or that have been fortified with vitamins and nutrients, well see this indicated with much stronger statements: labels may say “good for you” and have more specific nutrients identified. It's all designed to help you decide on your food choices quickly, and instilling confidence that you have chosen correctly.

It's not just about feeding ourselves but is very much about what we feed our children, and that will spill over into the educational system. Parents will want to know that budget cuts will not effect healthy food choices that are not just inexpensive but contain lots of nutritional value. The trend transcends the individual and encompasses the entire family.

We'll also learn more about feeding our families inexpensively but with healthful foods at the forefront. We used to just believe what food producers or their advertising told us, but as our knowledge has grown we're getting more involved.  We will no longer sit idly by and simply purchase the products that we see advertised the most on television.  We'll investigate, we'll compare, we'll make informed, intelligent choices, and the food purveyors will help us make these choices as we seek out beneficial foods.

(A combined research project conducted by Culture Waves, International Food Futurists, and The Food Network determined the top food trends. From the list of the top 10, this subject was taken.)