Dive Brief:
- Carbs are often seen as the villain, so much so that it's harming the pasta industry in the U.S. and other countries, as consumers worry that carbs are contributing to weight gain and that pasta is not nutritious, according to The Washington Post.
- Euromonitor found that sales of dried pasta in North America have fallen by 6% since 2009. Another report from Mintel confirms that those pasta sales will continue to decrease through at least 2019.
- The disregard for carbs extends beyond the pasta industry and into breads and potatoes.
Dive Insight:
Many fad diets from the past few decades have either not allowed or limited carb intake, and some have also taught consumers the difference between bad carbs and good carbs.
Fat was once targeted as the reason for weight gain, and food and beverage manufacturers responded with a slew of non- and low-fat versions of their products. Now that carbs are the new target, manufacturers are responding to this latest trend by making more products gluten-free, which is one way of removing grains and reducing carbohydrates, though gluten-free is more about removing gluten than reducing carbs.
The current protein trend is also harming pasta, which does not contain much protein. More than half of adults say they want to include more protein in their diets, according to The NPD Group.