Why are food brands cutting extra calorie?
Why are food brands cutting extra calorie?

Brands on the race

Restaurant chains like McDonald’s, PizzaExpress are cutting calorie count in their menu as they are  fighting to hold on to customers in a rapidly growing developing market where newer, healthier fast-food options have just starting to catch up. Not only this, chocolates brands like Nestle, Mondelez, Hershey’s have announced that they are planning to use simpler ingredients and removal of artificial colours from their chocolates.

Hershey’s, one of the largest manufacturer of chocolate, has announced to take such step in accordance with the US consumers' concerns about quality and sourcing of food.  

The chocolate maker is planning to use locally produced milk and to use simpler ingredients.  However, information on the sourcing, manufacturing and labelling of the products would be made available on the packaging or online, the company said.
At the same time, Nestle India is planning to remove artificial colours from its chocolates and confectionery products sold in India.

"Though there are different constraints in replacing flavours, our application teams are working on it and already some of the premium products including Nestle Extra Smooth Chocolate do not contain artificial flavours," said a Nestle India spokesperson.

On the other hand, Mondelez, the maker of Oreo and Cadbury Dairy Milk, says that its hot selling products such as, Dairy Milk (India's number one chocolate brand) and Bournville carry no artificial colours. However, all food colours that the brands use are approved by appropriate regulatory agencies and are labelled.

Why so?

Over the years, global chains have examined that people are now looking for food that is much more above then the normal eating. They are looking for healthier food choices, keeping the health and wellness aspect. Drinking of natural and organic teas such as green tea and lemon tea is on the rise. 

Following global trends, tea brands like Pukka Tea and Typhoo have entered into the Indian market. According to experts, only 30 per cent of the people prefer healthy eating. In the coming years, we can expect more fast food chains and chocolates brands cutting calorie count and removing extra colours from their products.

 
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