NPD Group Reports Concern Over Obesity and Diabetes
Highest Level in 13 Years
JUNE 11, 2007. Americans love sweets, but they might be coming down from their sugar highs as health concerns such as obesity and diabetes grow. According to leading consumer and retail information company The NPD Group, 44 percent of American homemakers are extremely or very concerned about serving foods with sugar, the highest percentage noted since 1994. NPD data also shows an increase in consumption of foods and beverages that are low-sugar, sugar-free, or contain sugar substitutes.
According to NPD's Dieting Monitor service, nearly seven out of 10 adults say they want to cut down or avoid sugar completely, and about four out of 10 adults say they check food labels regularly for sugar. Over half of consumers say they are aware of and concerned about high fructose corn syrup, one of the most commonly-used sweeteners today.
As consumers look to cut back on sugar, consumption of foods and beverages that are low-sugar, sugar-free, or contain sugar substitutes is on the rise. In the year ending November 2006, 20 percent of Americans ate a low-sugar/sugar-free/artificially sweetened food item at least once in a two-week period, up from 14 percent in 2001.
Use of sugar substitutes to sweeten beverages is increasing. In 2006, more than 10 percent of coffee drinks had sugar substitutes added to them, up from eight percent in 1997. And while consumption of sugar-sweetened, carbonated soft drinks is declining (from 88 annual drinkings per capita in 1997 to 77 in 2006), consumption of diet soft drinks has remained the same.
"There's little doubt that Americans right now are increasingly concerned about sugar consumption," said Harry Balzer, vice president of The NPD Group. He adds, "But, we've been here before. Back in the 1980s, nearly 60 percent of Americans expressed concern about the sugar they were consuming, before declining during the early 1990s. I suspect we'll see the same trend during the next 10 years."
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