Watson Blogs

If there’s one mineral Americans know a lot about, it’s calcium. Thanks to the long-running “Got Milk?” campaign, we know calcium is important for strong bones and that milk contains plenty of it. So why are Americans falling short on this important nutrient? Learn everything you need to know about calcium and the new FDA regulations that affect calcium labeling.

You might have guessed that popular diets like keto, low FODMAP, and gluten-free can have nutrient gaps. But did you know that even the healthiest of diets—those recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans—can also fall short in nutrients? Here we examine how healthy diets can still have nutrient gaps and which fortifications can make up the difference.

There’s RDA, RDI, DV, and more—when it comes to understanding nutrition, it can seem like they’re feeding you alphabet soup! Here we break down the differences among these important nutrient guidelines and see how they impact the nutrition label.

While food and beverage manufacturers are gearing up for the new nutrition label compliance deadlines, many still have questions about why these changes are even necessary. Here we discuss why the FDA has decided to change the labeling status of vitamin C from mandatory to voluntary—even though vitamin C has been identified as an underconsumed nutrient in America.

Did you know that the vast majority of Americans are not consuming adequate amounts of potassium? Less than 2% are meeting the recommendations for potassium,¹ and the average intake is only 55% of the recommended amount.² Since potassium helps regulate things like heartbeat and blood pressure, it’s no wonder the FDA is making potassium a mandatory label nutrient on the new nutrition label. Here’s everything you need to know about this vital nutrient.

According to IRI data, 2018 was another lackluster year for the bread category with dollar sales up only 0.6% and unit sales down 1.6%.¹ But bakery has traits that consumers are looking for—like fresh, convenient, high fiber, and whole grain—so what’s going on? The time has come for a turnaround in bakery. Frozen foods did it, and bakery can, too. Here’s how.

Since the FDA unveiled the new nutrition facts label in 2016, there have been a lot of twists and turns for food and beverage manufacturers to follow—ranging from what’s considered an added sugar to when the new labels actually go into effect. Learn about the latest nutrition label news and how to make sure your company is ready for the change.

Adding botanicals to beverages is becoming big business! Consumers’ rising interest in natural, healthy beverages with exciting flavors has created an environment perfect for botanical beverages. From lavender coffee to turmeric lemonade to elderflower kombucha, see how manufacturers can use botanicals to give their beverages the “it” factor.

With nine out of ten Americans snacking multiple times a day,¹ snacking has officially become part of the American way of life. But what Americans are choosing for snacks is evolving and disrupting the traditional snack market. From gourmet jerky bars to flax milk yogurt to flavored almond butter squeeze packs, healthy snacks are in high demand. Learn which ingredients, nutrients, and claims are drawing consumers to healthy snacks.

Although anything can be eaten at breakfast, traditional foods like cereal, toast, yogurt, eggs, and bacon hold a special place in people's hearts when morning comes. Comfort and familiarity are highly valued at this eating occasion, but consumers’ growing demand for healthy nutrition and convenience means manufacturers have to get creative. Check out this year’s breakfast table trends, which include a fresh focus on plant proteins and whole grains, keto and paleo breakfasts, and flax and chia seeds everywhere!

Today’s on-the-go lifestyles have fundamentally changed how Americans eat. Grab-and-go meals and snacks are a way to meet consumers’ needs for convenience, portability, and nutrition—whether at work, at the gym, or in the car. Learn which types of foods, packaging, and nutritional benefits are attracting the attention of today's grab-and-go consumer. 

A MOOVING TREND

Recently, trends have emerged that encourage the population to completely eliminate dairy from the daily diet. Diets such as Paleo, Vegan, and the Whole 30 remove dairy from the diet because they claim that this elimination will aid in weight loss and improve digestion. However, dairy is essential to the health of Americans! The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) cover 3 “recommended eating patterns” all which include dairy.

Biotin is a stable B vitamin that functions in the metabolism of macronutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates, and proteins. Other names for biotin include vitamin B7, vitamin H, or coenzyme R. Biotin is a coenzyme involved in the creation of nucleic acids and fatty acids. Additionally, biotin is an important factor in the creation of fats, specifically for adequate fat production in the body. Even though biotin is responsible for the production of fat, it is not stored in the fatty tissues. In fact, biotin is a water soluble vitamin, nontoxic, and excreted from the body. Low biotin intake causes an adverse effect of fat metabolism. (1).

The United States population consumes well below the recommended amounts of fiber (1). The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines has recognized dietary fiber as a nutrient of public health concern (2).

According to health professionals, getting enough potassium can reduce your risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.¹ Yet most American adults are falling short of the recommended daily intake. Research suggests that consuming an optimal amount of this crucial mineral may protect against a host of ailments including cardiovascular disease, muscle wasting, osteoporosis, and kidney stones. It can help to maintain healthy blood pressure and ensure proper nerve, kidney, and heart functions. In 2016, the FDA added potassium to the list of nutrients required to be listed on a food’s nutrition panel.

The average sodium intake is 3,440 mg each day. This is well over the recommended amount of 2300 mg per day. The recommended amount of 2300 mg converts to 1 teaspoon of sodium or 6 grams of salt each day.By contrast, 3,440 mg of sodium per day converts to 1.5 teaspoons of sodium, or 8.35 grams of salt. Needless to say, sodium is considered an overconsumed nutrient of concern for Americans. The Dietary Guidelines recommend Americans to decrease sodium intake in their diet. With the rise in obesity and sodium intake, researchers found a direct association between caloric intake and sodium consumption. The higher the food intake, the higher the sodium content of the diet (1).

Here's a look at everything you need to know about what’s happening right now in baking—from spinach bread to charcoal croissants to crackers that resemble Swiss cheese. 

The first time I came across someone with Celiac disease was in college on a night out to a restaurant. I never heard of the disease and I rarely ever heard about gluten-free food. So as we were ordering food, hearing someone say they couldn’t eat most things on the menu was surprising to me, even a little annoying, because I couldn’t understand why it was such a big deal. However, when I learned how painful and demoralizing it can be to have Celiac disease, it really made me rethink how important it is to for the victims to have food that is good for them to eat.

Did you know that in the past four years, the grocery store perimeter has experienced a growth rate of more than double that of the center of the store, with a CAGR of 3.8% for the perimeter, compared to 1.8% for the rest of the store?¹ Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods and subsequent price cutting initiative in fresh foods indicates strong awareness of this trend.

What’s in a loaf? A basic loaf of bread contains four ingredients: flour, water, yeast, and salt.¹ But if we stop there, we’ll have a European-style bread that goes stale in a day.² Bread that is mass produced and distributed needs a little help from food science to achieve machining tolerance, volume and texture consistency, and delayed staling.

Emojis are a great start if you are looking for something new to revamp your products.

Ascorbic Acid, or more commonly known as Vitamin C, is naturally found in citrus fruits and many vegetables. It is considered an antioxidant.

The baking industry has made huge leaps in the gluten-free trend. As people become more aware of their food habits, their demand for food they can safely eat has increased. Here at Watson, we have come up with a line of gluten-free mixes that can be used in restaurants and food service institutions.