Mondelez International, maker of Oreos, caught my attention last week when it said it wanted to make more healthy snacks.
“Management stated that it plans to offer more good-for-you snacks and expects 50% of its product portfolio to comprise “well-being” items by 2020 instead of one-third at present.
“Apart from simplifying the ingredients and improving nutritional benefits of the existing products, the snacking giant will also develop products to cater to the growing consumer demand for healthier and natural items,” reported investment site Zacks.
Welcome to the dilemma facing major food processors today. I love Oreos, absolutely love them so know that I am not a Oreo basher by any means.
But I no longer eat them since having an angioplasty in 2012 because of my concerns about clogging my arteries and/or driving my blood pressure to unhealthy levels.
Many others are simply turning away from Oreos and other processed foods because of health and ingredient concerns (and Donald Trump is because he’s mad the company is moving jobs outside the U.S. but that’s another blog post entirely).
The challenge for these companies is that healthy snacks already exist in wild abundance — they’re called fruits and, for those who can tolerate them, nuts. It’d hard to come up with anything healthier.
And when a processor starts adding ingredients, it usually means preservatives which people certainly are not looking for in their snacks, or regular foods, these days.
Good luck Mondelez.
John
The No Salt, No Fat, No Sugar Journal 
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