"Regular soda has taken the brunt of criticism from America s obesity and health issues, because people associate it with empty calories and artificial ingredients," states Krista Faron, senior analyst at Mintel. "As health and wellness awareness grows, more people are turning away from old-fashioned pop and looking for healthier, lower-calorie drinks, as well as drinks that offer the functionality to meet their specific lifestyle needs."

The greatest changes in Americans' drinking habits have occurred outside the soft drink market. As consumers adopt healthier lifestyles and look for new beverages to go with them, Mintel has seen rapid growth in the number of people who regularly drink non-soda options:
* Bottled Water: 24 million more Americans drank bottled water in 2008 than in 2003.

* Energy Drinks: Driven by young adults, the number of energy drink users nearly doubled from 2003-2008 (to 34.5 million from 17.4 million).

* Sports Drinks: In the past five years, 11 million adults started drinking sports drinks

In Mintel's exclusive consumer survey, one in three beverage-purchasing adults (34%) said they are drinking more water and fewer carbonated beverages to manage weight or other health conditions, compared to 2006. In addition to weight control, many people are concerned about high-fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners, causing them to turn away from all kinds of soda. Mintel found 16% of respondents worry about the health risks of high-fructose corn syrup, while 15% say they are drinking less artificially sweetened beverages because of risks.

"During the past few years, health and wellness issues have come to the forefront of people's minds, and we see that strongly reflected their changing beverage choices," comments Faron. "Manufacturers have done well at keeping pace with people's new preferences, and we expect continued momentum in tea, coffee drinks and diet soda, in particular."

From the April 13, 2009, Prepared Foods E-dition