Dive Brief:
- Although the Dietary Guidelines for Americans advises consumers to “eat the rainbow” when it comes to vegetables, pale vegetables like cauliflower and potatoes pack a nutritional punch and can be overlooked, according to an article in The Washington Post.
- Cauliflower is increasing in popularity as a low calorie, low carbohydrate food, and creative ways to cook or prepare it are also growing. Potatoes have received a bum rap because of their starchiness, so their nutritional value is often overlooked.
- The leading pale vegetable superfoods include cauliflower, members of the onion family and mushrooms.
Dive Insight:
The trick to encourage more pale vegetable consumption is to change consumer mindset by creating products that are creative, different and easy-to-prepare.
Cauliflower, once ignored in preference for its greener cousin broccoli is a rising star. It's been called "the new kale," and became difficult to find in stores last year because of its popularity. It is healthy and low in calories and carbohydrates. Ways to prepare it are unlimited – from roasting, to steaming, to putting it in casseroles. And manufacturers are catching onto the trend, but changing its format to be riced, combined into tots and mashed.
Ethnic foods, particularly Japanese and Hispanic cuisines, are also increasing in popularity with consumers. Many of these dishes include pale vegetables as one of the ingredients. Manufacturers and food producers can benefit from including pale vegetables in their products and promoting their health benefits.