After 50 years of being promoted as one of the healthiest choices consumers can make, vegetable oils - the name used to describe the seed oils sunflower, canola and soy - are in trouble. A small but fast-growing percentage of consumers in the US and Europe are trying to avoid them. Why?
Seed oils are a relatively new part of western diets, and modern diets contain 20 times more seed oils than 100 years ago. That oversupply of omega-6 fatty acids - and in particular linoleic acid - is increasingly being flagged by credible academic researchers as a source of inflammation and a contributor to diseases of metabolic syndrome.
The fact that most oils in the diet are industrially processed and easily oxidized is also thought to be a contributor to inflammatory problems.
The science is controversial, but the debate is being picked up both by mainstream and social media and it is influencing the thinking of health-active consumers. In response, a wide range of food companies - from giants like Mondelez down to small challenger brands - are beginning to review their use of 'industrial seed oils' and, where they can, communicate that their brands are free-from. It's an emergent free-from, but these free-froms have a habit of growing and becoming important in strategy.
This Strategy Briefing:
- sets out the five steps that companies can take to respond to this growing consumer concern
- explains in simple language the scientific concerns fuelling this free-from
- shows how mainstream and social media is spreading awareness among consumers
- and shows what companies are doing to connect to this emergent consumer need
Table of Contents
1. An emergent consumer concern
2. What can brand owners do?
3. Shifting science highlights health threats and opportunities
3.1 The health position of seed oils is evolving from ‘good’ to ‘questionable’
3.2 High consumption of omega-6s in western diets
4. Seed oil concerns are gaining consumer attention
5. What steps are companies taking?
5.1 Packaged food
5.2 Food service
6. An innovation opportunity for oils
6.1 New sources of oil
6.2 Oil from fermentation
List of Charts
- Chart 1: Percentage of consumers who say they are avoiding seed oils
- Chart 2: Numbers of US launches of gluten free food & drink products, 1995-2020
- Chart 3: Percentage of people who think the following “fat foods” are healthy (Brazil v US)
- Chart 4: Zero Acre Farms oil is premium priced
List of Tables
- Table 1: Nutrition snapshot, Zero Acre Farms oil
