'No high fructose corn syrup' claims featured on 2.35% of new products launched in 2013

18-Sep-2014 - Last updated on 19-Sep-2014 at 14:50 GMT

'No high fructose corn syrup' claims featured on around 2.35% of the 20,000+ new products launched in the US in 2013, compared with 2.30% of new products launched in 2012, 2.09% in 2011 and 1.56% in 2010.

The analysis was conducted for the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) using data from Mintel’s Global New Products Database.

While this shows an upward trend, the growth curve is slowing, said the CRA, which noted that while consumers are paying more attention to how much sugar is in their foods, they are less concerned about its source (cane sugar, HFCS etc).

In a Mintel Research Consultancy (MRC) phone survey of 2,008 US primary household grocery shoppers conducted in 2012, when asked what they looked for most on food labels, calories were mentioned by the highest percentage of people (41%), followed by fats and oils (37%), then sugar (31%).

However, more recent research suggested that when it comes to ingredients to avoid or monitor, sugars are moving up the list, noted Mintel last year: "Consumers are avoiding sugar and added sugar more than any other ingredient."