Research by Opinion Dynamics Corporation (ODC) shows the low-carb craze hit its peak in early 2004 and, while the diet trend has not disappeared, it is not growing either. ODC's latest survey, performed in August of 2005, finds 13% of the public saying they are on some form of a low-carb diet, an amount which has remained fairly consistent since the height of the trend in 2004.
Interestingly, the behavior of those dieters shows many more subtle changes to their eating patterns than in 2004, meaning the impact of low-carb diets upon the food and beverage industry will be much smaller. Furthermore, “Research conducted by ODC in 2004 showed that low-carb dieters were not looking for specialty products to serve as alternatives to high-carb foods. In other words, there never was strong interest in low-carb diet products, even at the height of the craze. There is less interest in low-carb products today than there was a year ago.”