APRIL 2015 IN
RICK ASTER’S WORLD

The New Food Awareness

Over the 20th century people became less aware of the food they were eating as there was a mass migration from farms to urban centers. A countertrend started around 1960, though, and accelerated with the Internet. Now people are becoming aware of food in a way that they never were before.

The first half century of the food awareness trend can be retraced with issues that should be familiar to most readers, listed roughly in order of appearance:

• Ingredient labeling (for packaged food)
• Animal fat
• Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
• Unit prices
• High fructose corn syrup
• Trans fat (partially hydrogenated vegetable oil)
• Allergens
• Country of origin
• Organic vs. chemical agricultural methods
• Gluten

Look the depth of awareness that people are taking on with the current questions about food:

• Drugs fed to animals (for milk and other animal-based foods)
• Food additives
• Prices and fair trade
• Chemicals incorporated into food containers (BPA, BHT, etc.)
• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in food prepared with high temperatures
• Food sourcing policies (especially for restaurants)

The food industry has sometimes been quick to catch on to consumer complaints, as seen in the recent move to eliminate titanium dioxide microparticles from food because of relatively vague health concerns. More often, though, the industry is behind the curve. Last year, for example, low-value restaurant leader McDonald’s seemed perplexed that people cared about the 13 ingredients in its beef, only one of which is actually beef, and was clearly unprepared for the backlash that ensued after it disclosed them. It takes customers only a moment to change their eating plans, so food factories may want to react faster and do what they can to get ahead of the food awareness movement.

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