The study presents a snapshot of what product trends are being considered and implemented in providing foods and beverages for consumers concerned about weight control. The results show specifically that low- and reduced-carb diets present to food formulators a tremendous opportunity to create, as one respondent stated, “unique, never-before-done-products.”
With the government focusing heavily on reducing obesity, more pressure has been placed on manufacturers to create healthful and delicious products. Over the past couple of years, however, public opinion of diets low in carbohydrates such as the meal regimens proposed by the late Dr. Robert C. Atkins or Dr. Arthur Agatston's South Beach diet has positively increased, so much so that the USDA may need to re-examine whether the fundamentals of the Food Guide Pyramid have acted in anchoring the country to obesity.