Americans are here for healthy food additives
The Ipsos Consumer Tracker asks Americans questions about culture, the economy and the forces that shape our lives. Here's one thing we learned this week.
Why we asked about healthy food additives: Functional foods are all the rage. In a conversation with CNBC at Davos, Coca-Cola Co. chairman and CEO James Quincey was asked about additives like fiber. He said, “You can put it in anything. For example, we sell Diet Coke with fiber in Japan.” When asked how big of a thing that was, however, he admitted a perhaps important detail: “It’s niche, because people don’t buy drinks to have their fiber.” So how do we feel about things that are perhaps healthier or healthy-ish if not actually healthy?
What we found: Americans are very open to pretty much any and all of their foods becoming more functional.
We asked, “many foods add additional health benefits as supplements (i.e., vitamins, fiber, protein, etc.). How important, if at all, is it to you to have those ingredients in the following kinds of foods?” Sizeable majorities were interested in these added benefits in just about every category we asked.
The only category that was even slightly below majority was energy drinks, which while growing, are still far from mainstream in their consumption — and we didn’t filter these questions based on usage. There’s very little difference across demographic splits, although older Americans (55+) are less enthusiastic in every case, but there’s a lot of similarity in the 18 to 34 and 35 to 54 cohorts, with a couple of exceptions. The younger folks are quite a bit more interested in additives in their juices or water (82% to 70%) and less so (66% to 78%) in their snack bars.
More insights from this wave of the Ipsos Consumer Tracker:
Fewer Americans want brands to remain neutral
Americans aren’t buying the benefits of tariffs
Older Americans are working hardest on their health
Ingredients for the perfect food: flavor, quality and affordability
The Ipsos Vibe Check: Here's how Americans feel about the government this week
The Ipsos Care-o-Meter: What does America know about vs. what does America care about?
