The Change Away from Low Carb Labeling

Glassman said:

Seems like due mostly to the Atkins products failure, the Low Carb name
has gotten a bad rap these days. Seems like more and more products are
disappearing from the shelf, and reappearing called either sugar free, or
reduced sugar. Anyone notice this trend?

--
"Don't get me wrong... I'm SNARKY"
JK Sinrod
Sinrod Stained Glass Studios
www.sinrodstudios.com
Coney Island Memories
www.sinrodstudios.com/coneymemories

Yes, and don't some of those "sugar free" and "reduced sugar" products
have significant levels of carbs, using fruit sugars and such?

I buy more LC products online these days as they disappear from the
shelves.

....joy

Glassman said:

Seems like due mostly to the Atkins products failure, the Low Carb name
has gotten a bad rap these days. Seems like more and more products are
disappearing from the shelf, and reappearing called either sugar free, or
reduced sugar. Anyone notice this trend?

I haven't noticed low carb food disappearing from the stores. Brocolli
and such are still there like always. I do notice those substitutes
disappearing. Maybe it's because folks figured out that food is the
way to go. Substitutes were a flash in the pan. Natural they would
have lost popularity.

But claims of sugar-free and such are on all sorts of labels now. I
figure they will stay popular on products. Just like low fat or fat
free
doesn't mean it's good for you, low carb or sugar free doesn't mean
it's good for you. In the battle between "can" and "should", "can"
tends to win and these products support the can not the should.

x-no-archive: yes

Doug Freyburger said:

I haven't noticed low carb food disappearing from the stores. Brocolli
and such are still there like always. I do notice those substitutes
disappearing.

I'm in NY, and I've noticed that a lot of my favorite LC products are no
longer carried, variety is much less, and I never bought LC Frankenfood.

I can't even find Ben and Jerry's Carb Karma ice cream at the largest
supermarkets here. Only Atkins product I miss is the muffin mixes,
everything else was disgusting. I even have trouble finding the melba
thin slices of Arnold's rye bread now.

On a positive note, at least I see a lot of "0 transfat" labels now.

Susan

Susan said:

x-no-archive: yes

Doug Freyburger said:

I haven't noticed low carb food disappearing from the stores. Brocolli
and such are still there like always. I do notice those substitutes
disappearing.

I'm in NY, and I've noticed that a lot of my favorite LC products are no
longer carried, variety is much less, and I never bought LC Frankenfood.

I can't even find Ben and Jerry's Carb Karma ice cream at the largest
supermarkets here. Only Atkins product I miss is the muffin mixes,
everything else was disgusting. I even have trouble finding the melba
thin slices of Arnold's rye bread now.

On a positive note, at least I see a lot of "0 transfat" labels now.

Susan

I think Doug may be playing a "mind game" in which he keeps talking
about natural foods that are Low Carb..... even though the OP question
was clearly about the manufactured foods which are the e "low carb foods" .

On the transfat foods, 2006 is the year in which the regulations on
transfat in the foods must be disclosed on the labels.

So, 2006 may be the "Low TransFat Year" in which endless labels in the
grocery stores will point out that this or that now has "Zero TransFats".

--
1) Eat Till SATISFIED, Not STUFFED... Atkins repeated 9 times in the book
2) Exercise: It's Non-Negotiable..... Chapter 22 title, Atkins book
3) Don't Diet Without Supplimental Nutrients... Chapter 23 title, Atkins
book
4) A sensible eating plan, and follow it. (Atkins, Self Made or Other)

The disappearance of LC products isn't the result of Atkins
Nutritional's bankruptcy or people switching from one LC food to
another. It's the result of the decline in popularity of LC dieting
itself and too many of the same products with decreasing sales volume.
LC reached it's peak popularity over a year ago. Surveys since then
have shown a dramatic drop, first in growth rate, then in people
pursuing LC. That is what lead to the bankruptcy of companies like
Atkins and Keto.

Look at ice cream, as someone previously brought up, as a good example.
At one point, the local supermarket here had LC ice cream products
from Atkins, Carb Solutions, Breyer's, Turkey Hill, Ben & Jerry's, Eddy
Grand, No Pudge, and I've probably forgotten one or two more. There
was no way the market, even if it had just slowed down in growht, would
have ever supported all those products. The big problem will be for
products where no suppliers remain. Hopefully that won't happen with
things like Hood milk, sweet pickles, ketchup, etc.

jbuch said:

Susan said:

Doug Freyburger wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I haven't noticed low carb food disappearing from the stores. Brocolli
and such are still there like always. I do notice those substitutes
disappearing.

Quoted message said:

I'm in NY, and I've noticed that a lot of my favorite LC products are no
longer carried, variety is much less, and I never bought LC Frankenfood.

I think Doug may be playing a "mind game" in which he keeps talking
about natural foods that are Low Carb..... even though the OP question
was clearly about the manufactured foods which are the e "low carb foods" .

Note the use of the word "Frankenfood" above by Susan. My mind
game is to remind folks that you don't need frankenfood at all to
low carb. Frankenfoods are controvertial. They are loved by
newbies but how do they effect long term success? I don't have
enough data to conclude that they harm long term success but a
lot of people who discussed nothing else came and went over time.

And so the mind game becomes about attitude. Are these
substitutes a long term replacement for the foods that made us
fat in the first place? Then like so-called low-fat products they do
nothing to help us lose and it's an attitude that leads to trouble.
Are these substitutes being used on a time scale of most-weeks
not most-days? Then I doubt they'll be a problem. Are these
substitutes being viewed as a hated crutch to be used as better
habits are tapered in? Great, but who can pull off such an
attitude?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On a positive note, at least I see a lot of "0 transfat" labels now.

Yeah. On the one hand it's great. On the other hand I wonder
how much they are messing with portion sizes to get the
round-down from 0.5 and I wonder what other nasties end up
in there instead.

Quoted message said:

On the transfat foods, 2006 is the year in which the regulations on
transfat in the foods must be disclosed on the labels.

So, 2006 may be the "Low TransFat Year" in which endless labels in the
grocery stores will point out that this or that now has "Zero TransFats".

A step for the good.

Quoted message said:

--
1) Eat Till SATISFIED, Not STUFFED... Atkins repeated 9 times in the book
2) Exercise: It's Non-Negotiable..... Chapter 22 title, Atkins book
3) Don't Diet Without Supplimental Nutrients... Chapter 23 title, Atkins
book
4) A sensible eating plan, and follow it. (Atkins, Self Made or Other)

Official UseNet policy is to trim out te sigs from other posts. Not
this
one, too valuable for me to trim it IMO.

x-no-archive: yes

Quoted message said:

The disappearance of LC products isn't the result of Atkins
Nutritional's bankruptcy or people switching from one LC food to
another. It's the result of the decline in popularity of LC dieting
itself and too many of the same products with decreasing sales volume.

I think the opposite is true. I think the financial decline of the
Frankenfood market led to an erroneous assumption about low carb's
popularity. If they examined sales of LC produce, meat, fish, nuts,
oils, etc, I think they'd find higher, not lower sales.

Low carbers are a well informed group, in terms of food quality, and not
like the folks who gobbled up Snackwells during the low fat craze.

Susan

"Susan Dec 27, 11:57 am

I think the opposite is true. I think the financial decline of the
Frankenfood market led to an erroneous assumption about low carb's
popularity. "

That's just not true. There were lots of surveys taken and reported in
the media over the last year that showed a decline in the number of
people doing LC. Those surveys have nothing to do with sales of any
product. You can see the waning interest right here by the number of
daily posts compared to one or two years ago.

BTW, just because you don't like foods like LC ketchup, pickles, or
bread, doesn't make them frankenfood.

x-no-archive: yes

Quoted message said:

That's just not true. There were lots of surveys taken and reported in
the media over the last year that showed a decline in the number of
people doing LC. Those surveys have nothing to do with sales of any
product. You can see the waning interest right here by the number of
daily posts compared to one or two years ago.

Maybe that's so. I do wonder who sponsored the surveys, though, and how
the questions were posed. As it happens, every study that comes out
finds more conventional authorities recommending "good carbs" or less
starch and sugar. Folks may be eating more low carb without being on
one of the popular diets.

Quoted message said:

BTW, just because you don't like foods like LC ketchup, pickles, or
bread, doesn't make them frankenfood.

It's a word I use for substances that wouldn't be caught dead together
in nature. Or that some of us wouldn't eat on a dare, but Atkins put in
a lot of ersatz food products, accounting for their failure.

Susan

Bread is not low carb, "low carb bread" is not food.

--
You take stupid to a new level. -- MFW

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Susan Dec 27, 11:57 am

I think the opposite is true. I think the financial decline of the
Frankenfood market led to an erroneous assumption about low carb's
popularity. "

That's just not true. There were lots of surveys taken and reported in
the media over the last year that showed a decline in the number of
people doing LC. Those surveys have nothing to do with sales of any
product. You can see the waning interest right here by the number of
daily posts compared to one or two years ago.

BTW, just because you don't like foods like LC ketchup, pickles, or
bread, doesn't make them frankenfood.

"Doug Freyburger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

jbuch said:

Susan said:

Doug Freyburger wrote:

Quoted message said:

> I haven't noticed low carb food disappearing from the stores.

Brocolli

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> and such are still there like always. I do notice those substitutes
> disappearing.

Quoted message said:

I'm in NY, and I've noticed that a lot of my favorite LC products are

no

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

longer carried, variety is much less, and I never bought LC

Frankenfood.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I think Doug may be playing a "mind game" in which he keeps talking
about natural foods that are Low Carb..... even though the OP question
was clearly about the manufactured foods which are the e "low carb

foods" .

Quoted message said:

Note the use of the word "Frankenfood" above by Susan. My mind
game is to remind folks that you don't need frankenfood at all to
low carb. Frankenfoods are controvertial. They are loved by
newbies but how do they effect long term success? I don't have
enough data to conclude that they harm long term success but a
lot of people who discussed nothing else came and went over time.

Sorry Doug but I specifically said LC products, not broccolli, and meat.
We know the difference. That was the point of my discussion. I may be doing
this longer than you have? I have been doing LC for over 7 years with a
sustained weight loss of 50 lbs, so I don't need your lecture on what to
eat. Yes I do endulge in some treats that are sold and targeted as LC. I'd
much rather buy LC ice cream or chocolate bar, or ketchup, than make it
myself. I also like to support the LC products to let them know we
appreciate them being there. Frankenfoods? OK if you like that name game,
but I think these things are only trouble if you decide to live on them. As
for the assertion that LCing is dying, like Susan I don't agree with Trader4
either. I think that the demise of all that Atkins stuff has casued the
media to misread yet again what LC eating is. The Atkins book is 35 years
old, and it keeps rising back from the dead over and over again. I still see
tons of bestsellers out there promoting what is basically a modified LC
plan. Those of us that have been successful, will eat this way forever.

--
"Don't get me wrong... I'm SNARKY"
JK Sinrod
Sinrod Stained Glass Studios
www.sinrodstudios.com
Coney Island Memories
www.sinrodstudios.com/coneymemories

"As for the assertion that LCing is dying, like Susan I don't agree
with Trader4
either. I think that the demise of all that Atkins stuff has casued the

media to misread yet again what LC eating is. "

I didn't say LC was dying. What I said was that the disappearance of
LC products, which you seem to agree is happening, is due to a decrease
in the number of people doing LC and too many products from companies
that were chasing a market that went from growing rapidly, to reversing
and dropping back. About two years ago, LC hit fad status, with the
media hyping it and lots of people who never would have considered it
suddenly thought it could be a quick and easy answer to losing weight.
So, for a couple of years, you had huge, unprecedented growth in the
number of people who were doing LC. A lot of companies decided to
chase that market and when it suddenly reversed, from double digit
growth to actual decline, they got hurt, with some of them going
bankrupt. And it wasn't just Atkins. Did you find your LC Heinz
Ketchup yet? As far as I can tell, it's still being made, but less
stores are carrying it. Now why is that? Is it because everyone
decided to start making their own or that they want to avoid it? I
don't think so, as it's a fine product. All stores are carrying less
of all kinds of LC products because they aren't doing enough volume to
justify the shelf space or companies have discontinued the products.

Here's one example of a consumer survey that shows actual numbers of
people doing LC and how it dramatically shifted:

Low-carb diets on downslide

Nanci Hellmich
USA TODAY
Dec. 17, 2004 12:00 AM

The percentage of people who are following low-carb diets has dropped
dramatically since January, according to new data from two market
research firms.
The latest data:

- Low-carb dieting peaked the last week of January, when 9.1 percent of
people said they were on the program. By Nov. 17, only 3.6 percent were
following the plan, according to the NPD Group, one of the country's
leading market research firms. NPD interviews 1,000 people twice a
month about dieting.

Going from 9.1 percent to 3.6 percent in less than a year is a huge
swing in a market full of new LC products. Now that 3.6 percent
number may still be bigger than the number was 5 or 10 years ago. And
I don't think it's dying and will go to zero. It will stabilize or
even increase. But going from 9.1 percent to 3.6 percent in less than
a year is a huge decline in the number of people doing LC and does
account for what we saw happen in the marketplace.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"As for the assertion that LCing is dying, like Susan I don't agree
with Trader4
either. I think that the demise of all that Atkins stuff has casued the

media to misread yet again what LC eating is. "

I didn't say LC was dying. What I said was that the disappearance of
LC products, which you seem to agree is happening, is due to a decrease
in the number of people doing LC and too many products from companies
that were chasing a market that went from growing rapidly, to reversing
and dropping back. About two years ago, LC hit fad status, with the
media hyping it and lots of people who never would have considered it
suddenly thought it could be a quick and easy answer to losing weight.
So, for a couple of years, you had huge, unprecedented growth in the
number of people who were doing LC. A lot of companies decided to
chase that market and when it suddenly reversed, from double digit
growth to actual decline, they got hurt, with some of them going
bankrupt. And it wasn't just Atkins. Did you find your LC Heinz
Ketchup yet? As far as I can tell, it's still being made, but less
stores are carrying it. Now why is that? Is it because everyone
decided to start making their own or that they want to avoid it?

It was back on my supermarket shelve last night. I bought 6 bottles, and
now they are out again. Makes me wonder if it was gone not due to it's poor
popularity, but because it is selling out too quickly to keep it stocked?

--
"Don't get me wrong... I'm SNARKY"
JK Sinrod
Sinrod Stained Glass Studios
www.sinrodstudios.com
Coney Island Memories
www.sinrodstudios.com/coneymemories

Glassman said:

It was back on my supermarket shelve last night. I bought 6 bottles, and
now they are out again. Makes me wonder if it was gone not due to it's poor
popularity, but because it is selling out too quickly to keep it stocked?

There are junk food products and good products. Exactly which
is which is a matter of tastes but the number who call low carb
cookies junk is very high and the number who call low carb
ketchup junk is much lower. But that's among active low carbers
not among folks checking boxes on order forms.

I wonder how much of it is the ordering folks no longer ordering
any low carb item, then getting requests, then stocking only the
ones that get requests.

What other low carb products "should" be out there? Since
fauxtatoes is cauliflower it isn't a product. Low carb ketchup
seems up there in popularlity. Pickles sweetened with splenda
instead of sugar seems to be as well. What else do the more
conservative low carbers want? Tortillas, milk ...

And how do folks see the "can" vs "should" issue working for
you? There are enough foods that I "can" eat that maintenance
is rope for me to hang myself at times.

Please do what I did, I tend to pick up the phone and call the makers of
the remaining 'Low Carb' foods or at least I email them ant thank them
for being around. I mention that I am Diabetic and "Thanks to the low
carb craze" there are a lot of Wonderful foods available for us
diabetics. I also mention that diabetes is one of the fastest growing
diseases in the USA today. And they need to keep that market share in
mind should they consider discontinuing the foods I like. Most are
receptive to the idea.

"Doug Freyburger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Glassman said:

It was back on my supermarket shelve last night. I bought 6 bottles,

and

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

now they are out again. Makes me wonder if it was gone not due to it's

poor

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

popularity, but because it is selling out too quickly to keep it

stocked?

Quoted message said:

There are junk food products and good products. Exactly which
is which is a matter of tastes but the number who call low carb
cookies junk is very high and the number who call low carb
ketchup junk is much lower. But that's among active low carbers
not among folks checking boxes on order forms.

I wonder how much of it is the ordering folks no longer ordering
any low carb item, then getting requests, then stocking only the
ones that get requests.

What other low carb products "should" be out there? Since
fauxtatoes is cauliflower it isn't a product. Low carb ketchup
seems up there in popularlity. Pickles sweetened with splenda
instead of sugar seems to be as well. What else do the more
conservative low carbers want? Tortillas, milk ...

I'm a 7 year successful LC veteran. I use only 3 LC storebought products
alot. The One Carb Ketchup.... Atkins Morning Start Cereal...... Hood Milk.
I occasionally buy an LC ice cream for a treat.

--
"Don't get me wrong... I'm SNARKY"
JK Sinrod
Sinrod Stained Glass Studios
www.sinrodstudios.com
Coney Island Memories
www.sinrodstudios.com/coneymemories

A lot of "real" food was being touted as low-carb for a while. My
favorite grocery store made up this carb-friendly logo and stuck it on
anything in their circulars that applied. So... every item in the meat
section had a "low-carb" logo attached to it. It was ridiculous -
anyone who doesn't know meat is low-carb ought not be trying to do a
low-carb diet anyways! The marketing emphasis on low-carb has changed
a lot recently as the fad has passed.

Most of my favorite frankenfoods are still around - DaVinci syrups,
low-carb tortillas, liquid splenda. Granted, only the tortillas are at
the grocery, but even during the height of the low-carb frenzy, I
mail-ordered the syrups and liquid splenda.

The only thing I miss from the "fad" days of low-carb is this soup from
Progresso - chicken cheese enchilada soup. Their web site indicates
they still make it, but none of my local groceries carry it anymore.
That stuff is good! Very high calorie, but a nice change now and then
- I miss it.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

A lot of "real" food was being touted as low-carb for a while. My
favorite grocery store made up this carb-friendly logo and stuck it on
anything in their circulars that applied. So... every item in the meat
section had a "low-carb" logo attached to it. It was ridiculous -
anyone who doesn't know meat is low-carb ought not be trying to do a
low-carb diet anyways!

Not true. It's still hard to sink in for lots of folks. I have good
friends that still offer me stuff to eat, and then say, "oh is cake high
carbs.... I thought it was only sugar"?

--
"Don't get me wrong... I'm SNARKY"
JK Sinrod
Sinrod Stained Glass Studios
www.sinrodstudios.com
Coney Island Memories
www.sinrodstudios.com/coneymemories