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"It’s not just what you eat, but how much. And increasingly the consumer is looking to the food industry to provide them with portion control solutions."
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Update on FACT Hello again! By now summer is in full swing, and we here at FACT hope you are enjoying all the wonderful things this season has to offer. We’ve been very busy with the move and are settling into our new quarters nicely. We are very happy with this arrangement, and its given us a new energy that I know will translate into more great ideas and products, just what our clients and customers have come to expect from FACT foods! This month we take a look at portion control as an emerging trend in the food industry. It is a simple concept, but in the wake of the Supersize era, one whose time has come. Americans are waking up to the idea that over eating is a major obstacle to good health, and they are looking to the food industry for solutions. This is a trend with legs, it is here to stay, and smart producers are adopting it as a way to expand their reach and increase their margins. We have a feature article on portion control and have included a few of the many recent news items that focus on this concept, as well another great piece on the low-glycemic trend. If you aren’t familiar with us, FACT is an innovator and supplier in the functional baked goods arena. Our current product lineup – bread, muffin, cake and various other commercial dough premixes – form the core of FACT’s business. For the complete product listing, click here. We would love to hear from you! If you have any questions, feedback or news of your own that you would like to share, please let us know and we will discuss it in this journal. Jacqueline Danforth, President Fact Foods |
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Life After Supersize: Portion Control By Jacqueline Danforth, President, FACT Corporation These days, more and more people are doing their best to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle, and the cornerstone of this is responsible eating. But with all the conflicting and constantly changing information available to the consumer, it is hard to know what is right. It seems that every couple of months a new diet or program is hailed as The One, only to fall out of favor a short while later and to be replaced with a new fad. The consumer is tired of getting caught up in the short-term fix only to be disappointed when the promised results fail to materialize. Many health conscious consumers are coming to the conclusion that there are no shortcuts, and the key to eating well and staying well is as simple as making smart food choices and exercising regularly. That's just plain common sense! One change in habit that people are learning makes a big difference is proper portion control – it’s not just what you eat, but how much. And increasingly the consumer is looking to the food industry to provide them with portion control solutions. Buying something that already comes in the recommended serving size is easy and something you can feel good about, and the major producers are picking up on this. Consider that thirty years ago a serving of fries consisted of about 30 fries and 450 calories; now you get 50 fries weighing in at a staggering 790 calories. Back then the average bagel weighed two to three ounces and contained 230 calories; it is now twice as large and contains about 550 calories. The average portion size has been growing steadily in North America over the past 30 years, and this is reflected in the well documented spike in the number of people who are overweight. The problem is obvious, and the current media focus on the ever increasing number of clinically obese people keeps this in front of the consumer on an almost daily basis. What is portion control? Quite simply, portion control means reducing your intake of food to the recommended serving size, and a good guideline is the Food Guide Pyramid. The FDA advises us to “pay attention to the serving size, especially how many servings there are in the food package. Then ask yourself, ‘How many servings am I consuming’?” Determining the actual portion size can, however, be very confusing for the consumer. It is one thing to read it on a website or the side of a box and quite another to eyeball it at the supermarket or in the kitchen. And while there are many “rules of thumb” out there to determine portions, from using no more than would fit into the palm of your hand, to estimating a serving as the size of a deck of playing cards, all the evidence indicates the consumer is more than happy to have the manufacturer take the guess work out of proper portions by providing the product already in the appropriate amounts. Does it work? It doesn’t take a nutrition expert to know that the healthy choice is to eat only as much food as the body requires for energy. Consume more than you need, and you’ll gain weight. Consume less, and you won’t have what it takes to maintain a healthy body. The journal Obesity Research recently published the results of its two-year, federally funded obesity study. They found the greatest weight loss in the study was related to portion control. Lead researcher Everett E. Logue, Ph.D., said "Although we saw similar patterns of weight loss related to reduced dietary fat consumption, increased fruit and vegetable consumption, increased physical activity and increased planned exercise, the target behavior that induced the greatest weight loss was portion control." What does this mean for the industry? In a time when McDonald’s has done away with its Supersize menu option, major companies are taking note of this new consumer awareness and portion controlled sizes are making an impact, especially in snack foods and baked goods. Major producers like Kraft, Procter and Gamble, and Nabisco are all offering less sugary, fat-reduced versions of big-sellers like chips and cookies in much smaller packages. This way consumers can enjoy “indulgent” treats without the guilt. In a recent New York Times article Snacks Go On A Diet, Nick Hahn, managing director of Vivaldi Partners, a strategy consulting firm that works with the food industry, notes that portion control is becoming increasingly popular as more of the big food companies try to expand the range of products they can offer as healthy choices. "I think you'll eventually see single-portion, calorie-control packages from everyone," Hahn said. "For consumers, knowing what to eat and how much to eat is incredibly confusing, so having portion-controlled products helps." The same article goes on to note that the CEO of Kraft listed the smaller packs as one of the products that had helped the company increase earnings, and in the first quarter of this year, Kraft announced its first quarterly profit increase in nearly two years. Looking Ahead All indicators are that portion control is a consumer trend with longevity. It has common sense appeal, it works, and major producers are already adapting to it in key areas like snack foods and baked goods, with great success. People want to eat for both taste and nutrition, and by watching how much food they eat, they can do so secure in the knowledge that they are making healthy choices. As the public awareness of the benefits of portion control increase, look for this approach to become the standard across the food industry. |
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News
FACT Foods President Jacqueline Danforth speaks at Equities Magazine's 54th Anniversary Summer Conference in New York City at 10 a.m. on June 23rd. View the presentation in a live webcast or access it from the Equities Magazine archive. Morsels in Miniature:Bite-Size Treats a Growing Portion of Bakery Sales from washingtonpost.com Size matters: food portions cause obesity from foodproductiondaily.com Portion control: the best new buzzword from the Arthritis Foundation Low-Glycemic may be better than low-fat diet from Reuters Health |
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FACToid: Bowing to increasing pressure from consumer groups trying to place limits on portion sizes, industry giant PepsiCo recently announced measures to cut sizes in US schools, saying it would limit serving sizes for all snacks to 150 calories, rising to 300 calories in high schools. - From NUTRAingdredients-usa.com |
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Featured Product: Celebrate Summer with our Blueberry Muffin Baking Mix
Summer is a busy time for everyone, and it is always nice to have healthy snacks on hand for all that kitchen traffic. Now you can enjoy scrumptious blueberry muffins with a healthy edge. We spent a lot of time on this recipe, and we think it comes through in the taste! Our delicious home baked muffins have increased fiber, reduced digestible carbohydrates (only 6 grams per serving!) and no added sugar.They’re the perfect treat if you’re looking to watch your weight, reduce your carb intake, follow a sugar-reduced/low glycemic diet, or simply indulge yourself with a more healthful baked treat. For more information please see our retail website or contact us for wholesale ordering information. |
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