Healthful Tips for Ordering Groceries Online

Health-related activities are often the first to go when life picks up, and having the time to grocery shop for fresh, nutritious food is no exception. Fortunately, these days shopping for food is more convenient than ever—with online grocery services, all you need is the click of a button. Web-based shopping isn’t a new concept, but the popularity of online grocery ordering has skyrocketed in recent years in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. IFIC’s 2021 annual Food and Health Survey found that 42% of survey respondents shopped online for groceries, representing about a 56% increase from 2019. The survey also found that consumers ages 18–34, people who identify as African American or Black, and parents tend to grocery shop online more frequently than other groups. Although concerns about contracting coronavirus from grocery stores seem to have been an initial reason for the significant increase in online grocery purchases, this trend appears consistent over time. The Benefits of Online Grocery Shopping Convenience With 52% of Americans citing convenience as a top purchase driver, consumers can log into their account, select their items, and designate whether or not they want to pick their groceries up from the store or have them delivered for an additional fee. These options enable consumers to do their shopping from the comfort of their homes while also avoiding long grocery-store lines and stressful parking lots. Easier Budgeting With online grocery shopping, you can easily see the price of each item you select and watch the total cost increase as you build your grocery cart. You can also easily remove items before check-out to stay within your budget, whereas if you’re shopping in person it is more difficult to keep a tally before you reach the check-out line. All this said, it’s important to keep in mind that […]

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Your Guide to Mindful Eating

Download the Mindful Eating Fact Sheet here Mindfulness is an ancient practice of being present with our internal and external environments. It can be defined as a “quality of consciousness that is characterized by continually attending to one’s moment-to-moment experiences, thoughts, and emotions with an open, non-judgmental approach.”1 Mindfulness has been used in a variety of therapeutic settings, as it can improve the way we process emotions and help us reduce stress. In recent years, the practice of mindfulness has been translated to the world of nutrition to help people increase awareness while eating and establish nourishing eating patterns. WHAT IS MINDFUL EATING? Mindful eating is about listening to our physical sensations—like hunger, fullness, and satisfaction cues—and taking time to notice our thoughts and emotions while eating so that we can have a more enjoyable and healthful eating experience.1 Mindful eating involves: While more studies are needed, research has demonstrated that mindful eating can decrease unhealthy eating behaviors such as binge eating, emotional eating, and external eating. RESEARCH Binge eating Two literature reviews on mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have found that these interventions decreased the incidence of binge-eating episodes (recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food often very quickly and to the point of discomfort and feeling of a loss of control while doing so). 2,3 These results were seen when mindfulness-based interventions specifically addressed eating behaviors and were combined with one of the following mindfulness training implementations: cognitive-behavioral therapies (which involve learning how to change unhelpful thinking patterns and/or behaviors), mindful eating programs and/or acceptance-based interventions (which encourage acceptance of thoughts/feelings and commitment to change). It’s worth noting that results did not improve when the intervention employed a general mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program without including content related to eating behaviors. Emotional eating In a systematic review of MBIs, […]

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What You Need To Know About Color Additives in Foods

We often hear about how we eat with our eyes first—and it turns out there’s some truth behind this notion. The visual appearance of the foods we eat can influence our experience and affect the way we perceive, taste, and smell our meals. Perhaps the most prominent visual component of our food—color—has even been used historically to identify important nutritional and medicinal values in our produce sources. And color additives have consistently been used as a relatively simple way producers and manufacturers use to alter a food’s appearance and improve its palatability. In fact, humans have been using color additives for centuries to preserve and enhance our food’s appearance. Color additives refer to any dye, pigment, or substance that gives color to a food. Color is used to enhance the attractiveness of a food by creating visual vibrancy, adding a new and appealing color to a food, or preventing a food’s original color from fading. Color additives can be made from natural or synthetic sources. Natural sources refer to those derived from nature and the Earth’s environment, whereas synthetic sources are chemically manufactured by specialized companies and food producers. Natural substances including spices (e.g., paprika, turmeric, and saffron) and minerals (e.g., iron), have been used to alter foods’ appearances since the beginning of recorded history. Even wine has been found to be artificially colored since around 300 BCE. Unfortunately, some substances that have been used to add color to foods have misled customers and created unsafe side effects, and there has been historic documentation about food adulteration regulations at least as far back as the time of England’s King Edward I (1272–1307), when some bakers used lime, chalk, or crushed bones to create disingenuous white bread. Sadly, toxic colorants have also been regularly used in recent history, including copper to […]

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What To Know About Preservatives in Food

While many of us strive to cook meals using fresh ingredients, busy schedules over the course of our week often lead to home-cooking burnout and the desire for delivery or takeout—sometimes before we’ve used all the food we bought on our weekly grocery run. One food-industry invention that can keep items in our fridge or pantry fresher for longer. Preservation. Preservatives help maintain the taste and nutrition of many food ingredients by extending the quality and safety of those foods beyond what they would be capable of on their own. Read on to discover more about food preservation and how preservatives are used in our food. So, what is food preservation? Food preservation is defined as any act or addition that inhibits undesired bacterial growth or chemical changes in a food. And while that might sound high-tech, many kinds of food preservation have been around for thousands of years. In fact, you likely practice food preservation daily without even knowing it. There are two categories of preservation: chemical and physical. When you wash raw produce or freeze your chicken, you are practicing physical preservation. Curing and pickling, in contrast, are examples of chemical preservation, because they use salt and vinegar (acetic acid) to alter foods to keep them edible (and delicious) for longer periods. Why are preservatives used in food? And what exactly are their benefits? Preservatives allow us to keep food safe for much longer. In addition to older forms of preservation that use salt and acid, other, more modern preservatives can offer benefits like inhibiting oil from going rancid or helping a food product retain its original color. One often-overlooked benefit of food preservatives is that they reduce food waste. According to estimates by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), food waste in the U.S. is “estimated […]

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Communicating the Net Benefits of Seafood Consumption

‘The past several years have brought about a paradigm shift in the role of seafood in health in terms of the risk of not eating seafood, especially during pregnancy and lactation. The MNG, IOM, and FDA have examined the recent science and the current issues arising from traditional methods of describing and communicating health benefits and risks. The consumer must be provided with clear information with which to make health-related decisions. The latest approach is communicating “net benefit” when the benefits exceed risks (or net risks if the benefits are low or unproven). Since the preponderance of the evidence supports a net benefit of seafood for fetal and neonatal neurocognitive development, women of child bearing age, women who are nursing or pregnant, the unborn and newborn, and young children should be encouraged to consume two meals of seafood (preferably fatty ocean fish) per week, avoiding only those few species found to be highest in methylmercury. Harris M, Bruhn C, Schor D, Reinhardt Kapsak W, Blakistone B. Communicating the net benefits of seafood consumption. Food Technol. 2009;63(11):38-44.

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What is Stevia?

Curious about stevia? You’re not alone. Conflicting information about low- and no-calorie sweeteners seems to be reaching new heights, so we’ve searched high and low for the facts. Here’s the lowdown on stevia. What is stevia? The stevia plant is an herbal shrub that is native to South America. It has been used for food and medicinal purposes for hundreds of years. The stevia plant is a source of sweetness that does not contain calories. The primary components responsible for stevia’s sweetness—steviol glycosides—are in their leaves. Sweeteners extracted from stevia leaves are used as an ingredient to replace sugar in reduced-calorie packaged foods and beverages. They are also used in some brands of tabletop sweetener packets, such as Equal Naturals®, NutraSweet Natural™, Pure Via®, SPLENDA® Naturals Stevia Sweetener, Stevia In The Raw®, SweetLeaf®, Truvia®, Wholesome®, and Whole Earth®. How is stevia different from sugar? Both stevia sweeteners and sugar provide a sweet taste in foods and beverages. However, stevia sweeteners do not contain calories or raise blood glucose like sugar does. Stevia sweeteners are 200–350 times sweeter than sugar, so only a tiny amount is needed to provide the same level of sweetness as sugar. When we consume sugar (sucrose), our body breaks it down into glucose and fructose, uses what it needs, and stores the rest for future use. When we consume stevia sweeteners, in contrast, none of the sweetener components get stored in the body. Instead, gut microbes in the colon use some of the stevia for energy, while the rest gets excreted into our urine. Is stevia safe? Yes, stevia sweeteners are safe to consume. They are one of eight types of low- and no-calorie sweeteners permitted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the U.S. food supply. The first stevia sweetener was […]

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Probiotics Are Popping Up Everywhere: Here’s What You Need To Know

Improving and maintaining our health through our food choices has always been a topic of interest for many people, and at no point in recent history has this interest come more into focus than the last year of pandemic living. More people have been tuned into the healthfulness of foods they’re buying compared with pre-pandemic times, and many are actively seeking out nutrients for their immune and digestive health benefits. Probiotics are one component of foods and beverages that have been associated with both these aspects of health. They’ve become a well-recognized ingredient in foods like yogurt as well as in dietary supplements, stemming from ongoing research on their health effects and widespread interest in them from food- and nutrition-focused circles. And it seems that many people have picked up on the attention that probiotics have received in recent years: IFIC’s 2020 Food and Health Survey found that nearly two in three people believe that probiotics are healthy, and nearly one in three (31%) are trying to consume them. With their sustained popularity, probiotics are being added to any number of foods and beverages, popping up in unexpected, sometimes surprising places. In this article, we’ll walk through a bit of background on probiotics, discuss how and why they’re found in foods outside of the yogurt aisle, and review what you need to know if you’re considering including them in your diet. What are probiotics? The World Health Organization and the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics have endorsed probiotics as “live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.” We commonly think of probiotics as bacteria, but certain types of yeasts also fit the bill. The health effects of probiotics can be specific to the species that is present and sometimes even to […]

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IFIC Spotlight Survey: Americans’ Perceptions Of Sweetness In Their Diets

The International Food Information Council (IFIC) commissioned an online survey among U.S. consumers to measure knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about sweetness in their diets. One thousand adults ages 18 years and older completed the online survey from February 14-19, 2025, and respondents were weighted to ensure proportional results. Key findings include:

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