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08.09.2006
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StumbleUponFood Allergies
Making Sense Of The (seemingly) Non-sensical
Food allergies and intolerances are certainly a hot topic these days. Many schools are eliminating all peanut-based foods in an effort to protect allergy sufferers. Some are even considering adding milk to the list of banned foods. Moreover, the vast majority of consumers we speak with report having at least one food allergy in their household, and many report multiple allergies. Listening to these narratives, one might come to the reasonable conclusion that we're growing increasingly allergic to contemporary society as a whole - a theme explored in Todd Hayne's masterpiece Safe.
At the same time, some in the medical community believe that many of our growing food intolerances and sensitivities are less a reflection of physiological reality than they are mistaken, self-initiated practice. A recent study at the University of Portsmouth, for example, found that among a group of 969 parents, fully 54 percent of the children were on restricted diets due to their parent's belief that they were allergic to cow's milk, wheat, eggs or other additives. Later testing revealed that only 2 to 6 percent of the infants actually had clinically confirmed allergies or sensitivities, a figure in line with most medical estimates of the U.S. population.
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While we at The Hartman Group are not qualified to weigh in on the medical or physiological aspects of these issues, our consumer research has identified a critical trend that is having profound effects on consumer behavior as well as eating habits: Namely, when it comes to food allergies and sensitivities, consumers in vast numbers are opting for self-diagnoses - both for themselves as well as family members. Whether medically substantiated or not, these diagnoses play an important role in affecting consumer choices at the supermarket and restaurants.
As hinted above, we typically find that about half of all consumers we interview claim to have one or more food allergies or sensitivities in their family. Upon further investigation, we find that in the vast majority of those cases the allergies or sensitivities have resulted from self-diagnoses. In many cases consumers have never discussed the sensitivities or allergies with their physician but, rather, evaluated their own perceptions of their health against the common wisdom of the moment. A common refrain here goes something like this:
- I was reading an article in this magazine about some woman who was gluten intolerant, and she was describing what it was like to feel lethargic all the time and have an upset stomach and always feel down...and I was thinking, like, 'Oh my god, that's me!!!'
Whether or not the allergies and intolerances in fact have any physiological basis is largely irrelevant to us. What is important for the near term is that they are most assuredly driving daily behavior - for the afflicted consumer(s) as well as their immediate family.
Of glutens, nitrites and sulfurs...
Of the self-diagnosed allergies and sensitivities, those encountered most frequently include dairy (lactose), wheat gluten, sulfur, sulfites, nitrates and nitrites. (Interestingly, we find that in the case of corn and peanuts, consumers are far less likely to engage in self-diagnoses of these allergies. Instead, most of these allergies appear to be diagnosed by a medical practitioner.) While dairy (lactose) appears to be a fairly straightforward proposition for most families (the meals proceed as normal, save the exclusion of cheese or cream in preparations for the afflicted party), wheat gluten, "sulfur," "sulfites," "nitrites," and "nitrates" prove much more complex.
In the case of what consumers refer to variously as "wheat gluten" "gluten" or "processed flour," consumers demonstrate widely varying understandings as to the vector of the alleged sensitivity or allergy. Those with a detailed understanding of Celiac disease speak fluently of the complexities associated with removing wheat gluten from their loved one's diet. Usually this process is so complex as to severely restrict and modify much of the entire family's diet accordingly. Likewise, we believe this group comprises the bulk of the loyal consumer base for gluten-free products.
Yet we find the "informed gluten" consumers actually pale in comparison to the larger numbers who speak only vaguely about removing "processed flour" and "glutens" - often from their children's diets. Here the talk is more likely to resemble folk wisdom and word-of-mouth narratives. In fact, we often find these consumers are experimenting with their children's diets in effort to promote better learning or better behavior more than better health. To this group, "gluten-free" can be seen more as a desirable lifestyle of the moment rather than a long-term behavioral pattern necessitated by physiology.
The other common vector of self-diagnosed allergies proves even more fragmented and frustrating. Indeed, when speaking to consumers about their various sulfur, sulfite, nitrate and nitrite sensitivities, we find little convergence of thought or behavior. Since most behavior is initiated by of word-of-mouth recommendation, we find wide variation in understanding, much of which bears little similarity to conventional clinical or food industry understandings of sensitivities to these substances.
In fact, of these allergies and sensitivities, the only common theme emerges around the case of red wine, wherein most believe that there are sulfites in red wine that are responsible for headaches emerging after wine consumption. (Though most admit, humorously, that (a) they plan on continuing their "experiments" and (b) they are not unconvinced that the headaches aren't the natural byproduct of drinking.)
Beyond wine, we find limited convergence of interest around eggs (thought to contain sulfur), luncheon meats (sulfites, nitrates and nitrites thought to be used to preserve meats), onions and garlic (sulfur content), Chinese food (MSG, described as a nitrite), and dried fruit (sulfur), along with a much more limited fear of processed or packaged foods (some believe processed foods contain sulfites).
What to think...
If you happen to find our summaries of the above situations frustrating, you are not alone. For better or worse, the chances for misinformation, misinterpretation or misguidance increase substantially once diagnosis and practice are wrenched from the domain of medicine and left in the hands of everyday folk wisdom. But like it or not, this is the reality being constructed by millions of consumers on a daily basis.
And while some in the industry may call out for more education or more accurate information to help consumers understand the basis of food allergies and sensitivities, our evidence doesn't suggest this is necessarily the right path to pursue. In fact, we find that much of consumers' food sensitivities are really no different from other collective anxieties and fears. Much like our fear of strangers, the mystical fear of food is a routine part of everyday life.
The implications for industry are two-fold:
- In the near term, we expect to see continued strong consumer demand for so-called "free" foods. These are specialty products and foods crafted without a specific offending substance so as to appeal to consumers (and their family members) with a specific sensitivity or allergy. The most salient examples include "dairy free," "gluten free," "wheat free," "sulfite free," and "nitrite free." Expect robust demand for these products to continue in the next few years.
- However, precisely because the near-term demand is largely the result of self-diagnosed sensitivities and allergies - which are themselves subject to the whims of folks wisdom and lifestyle interests - our long-term outlook for the allergy-free marketplace is much less sanguine. Here we expect demand to ultimately wane as consumers eventually shift the locus of their food phobias and anxieties on to other more timely substances.
