According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, approximately one-third of Americans are obese. In the last 20 years, this number has risen by almost 20 percent.
A busy stressful lifestyle with limited time for physical activity has been driving consumers to search out convenient, portable fast foods and prepared frozen meals. Unfortunately, most of these foods are of inferior quality: high in sodium, sugar, empty calories, artificial preservatives and flavor-enhancing food additives.
A 2015 Nielsen’s Global Health and Wellness Survey involving 30,000 online respondents revealed that 50% considered themselves overweight and the remaining 50% were actively trying to lose weight by making more healthful food choices. This second group stated they considered health to be important and were willing to pay more for products with increased health benefits.
With the help of government organizations and media campaigns, consumers have a much better understanding about the importance of nutrient density and quality of food. Food manufacturers are changing their products to accommodate this awareness.
Food manufacturers are reformulating products, exchanging iodized salt for mineral-rich sea salt, opting for healthier alternative sweeteners such as Lo Han Guo (Monk fruit), Stevia and Nopal and replacing unhealthy trans-fat ingredients with healthier options such as avocado, coconut and hemp. New product formulations are including ingredients high in desirable attributes like fiber and protein, such as flax, chia and protein powders.
The weight management market presents a wonderful opportunity for product developers to research exciting ingredients and create innovative functional foods and beverages for a growing consumer clientele which is hungry for healthy products with exotic new tastes, aromas and textures.
As a market leader in sourcing new ingredients and product trends, NP Nutra® supplies a variety of weight management ingredients including:
References:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/2015/058.pdf
https://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/nielsenglobal/eu/nielseninsights/pdfs/Nielsen%20Global%20Health%20and%20Wellness%20Report%20-%20January%202015.pdf
