America: Land of "free-from" There's a whole new category of food getting ready to take your supermarket by storm. These foods, called "free-from"s by food industry insiders, have emerged as a result of the increase in food allergies and sensitivities (or the increased awareness of them) that has occurred over the past several years. The premise is rather simple: Food manufacturers re-create various products that are common allergy triggers using ingredients that offer similar flavors but are less likely to cause an allergic response. But while the idea is simple, putting it into practice takes a great deal of research, not to mention creativity. Take the new product "Nomato," for example. It's a "free from" ketchup made without tomatoes. How the manufacturers thought to use carrots and concentrated beetroot and apple juice in their place -- and still manage to get it to taste even remotely like ketchup -- is beyond me. But demand for these sorts of products appears to be growing and you can bet the food industry will respond. Some of the other "free from" foods that are already lining supermarket shelves (particularly in stores like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Markets) include lactose-free ice cream and other dairy products and "peanut" butter made from soy (in fact Wal-Mart is coming out with its own version that's not only peanut-free, but also trans-fat-, cholesterol-, and gluten-free). While food allergies and sensitivities are serious health concerns that have been overlooked as major contributors to disease all too often in the past, I can't help but be a little leery about this new trend. I'm just not sure I trust any food that had to be "invented" in a lab. Especially when there are so many choices and alternatives to allergy-triggering foods that are completely natural. And the funny thing is, most of the "free-from" foods I listed above are ones that aren't all that good for you to begin with, even in their original form. So before you hop on the bandwagon and get wooed by the labels promising the "same great taste, without the [fill in the blank]" consider whether or not it's a food you really need in your diet -- or if you'd be better off being "free from" it altogether. Source:
"Revamped old favorites top of Mintel's new product list," Food Navigator (www.foodnavigator.com), 9/5/07 | 
