Thanks to initiatives by major food companies, the eating trend for the next few years will be improved health and portion control (about time!!!). Three biggies-General Mills Inc., Minneapolis, Kraft Foods Inc., Northfield, Ill., and PepsiCo Inc., Purchase, N.Y.-are on board with introductions ranging from formulation improvements to sweetened breakfast cereals, to turning calorically dense American institutions into snacking options for calorie counters (see sidebar).
Pepsi's corporate leader of health and wellness, Brock Leach, recently told New Nutrition Business that "the issue is making healthful options convenient, easily accessible and good tasting. Good-tasting conveniences are our forte. So we see this as a growth opportunity for taking everything we have in our packaging systems, supply chains and distribution systems and use that to provide a healthier product offering." He further points out that wellness will be to the food industry what convenience was over the past 15 years.