- Jun 12, 2001
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Yeah, ailment specific foods are the new thing and they say it saves time. But shouldn't you invest the time to know these things?
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By J.M. HIRSCH : Associated Press Writer
Nov 9, 2005 : 1:52 pm ET
Overweight? Diabetic? Cholesterol out of control? Have we got a deal on a meal for you!
If that sales pitch sounds a little sick, that's the point. Aging baby boomers and rising rates of obesity, diabetes and other health conditions have marketers looking to chronic illness as the new must-reach demographic.
It's part of a cultural shift that increasingly sees health problems as lifestyles rather than diseases. Now the food industry is realizing those lifestyles can have a major influence on spending habits.
It's easy to see why this is a fast-growing trend. For people like Karen Merrill, her lifestyle has become a matter of life and death.
The 49-year-old Barrington, N.H., woman had a heart attack and quintuple bypass in 2002. She credits the chronic disease-pitch -- which gives good-for-you branding to everything from menu items to entire supermarket shelves -- makes it easier for her to eat and shop.
During a recent trip to her local grocer, she was thrilled to spot several new whole-grain breakfast cereals -- foods she's supposed to be eating more of -- displayed in a special "heart healthy" section of the cereal aisle.
"I never would have known that this cereal existed if it wasn't for that display," said Merrill. "By coupling things like that, it introduces me to new things. Normally I would have been heading to the health food store to get it."
And there's plenty of incentive for these efforts.
//
Yeah, ailment specific foods are the new thing and they say it saves time. But shouldn't you invest the time to know these things?
<<snippet>>
By J.M. HIRSCH : Associated Press Writer
Nov 9, 2005 : 1:52 pm ET
Overweight? Diabetic? Cholesterol out of control? Have we got a deal on a meal for you!
If that sales pitch sounds a little sick, that's the point. Aging baby boomers and rising rates of obesity, diabetes and other health conditions have marketers looking to chronic illness as the new must-reach demographic.
It's part of a cultural shift that increasingly sees health problems as lifestyles rather than diseases. Now the food industry is realizing those lifestyles can have a major influence on spending habits.
It's easy to see why this is a fast-growing trend. For people like Karen Merrill, her lifestyle has become a matter of life and death.
The 49-year-old Barrington, N.H., woman had a heart attack and quintuple bypass in 2002. She credits the chronic disease-pitch -- which gives good-for-you branding to everything from menu items to entire supermarket shelves -- makes it easier for her to eat and shop.
During a recent trip to her local grocer, she was thrilled to spot several new whole-grain breakfast cereals -- foods she's supposed to be eating more of -- displayed in a special "heart healthy" section of the cereal aisle.
"I never would have known that this cereal existed if it wasn't for that display," said Merrill. "By coupling things like that, it introduces me to new things. Normally I would have been heading to the health food store to get it."
And there's plenty of incentive for these efforts.
//
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