By Dani Friedland on 10/1/2010
Progresso has announced a new lineup of soups for the fall, including its first chili soup.
The new soups include a World Recipes line of four soups influenced by Mexican cuisine. The World Recipes soups include: Tortilla y Pollo (Chicken Tortilla), Albondigas (Meatball & Rice), Caldo de Pollo (Chicken & Vegetable) and Frijoles Negros y Jalapeno (Black Bean Jalapeno).
A Three-Bean Chili with Beef will become the fifth variety in Progresso’s High Fiber line.
All 13 of the Progresso Light soup varieties now include larger pieces of chicken, more tender pieces of beef or a wider variety of vegetables. In addition, five of the current Reduced Sodium soups, including Chicken Gumbo, Minestrone and Beef & Vegetable, now meet the sodium and soluble fiber requirements to carry a “May Help Lower Cholesterol” health benefit on the label.
“We have worked hard to develop exciting new flavors and health enhancements to many of our soups to deliver the taste, quality and variety that consumers expect from Progresso,” Chad Johnson, marketing manager for Progresso soups, said in a statement. “This is one of our biggest soup seasons in terms of the number of new varieties and enhancements we’ve ever introduced.”
The new soups will be in stores beginning this fall. Progresso is a General Mills brand.
Wealthy Americans spending more on fast food
By Dani Friedland on 9/30/2010
The wealthiest Americans spent 24 percent more on fast food during the second quarter ending June 30 than they did during the same period in 2009, according to a new study from American Express.
The rest of U.S. consumers spent 8 percent more on fast food than they did the year before, according to the study.
This group of consumers, dubbed “ultra-affluent,” charges $7,000 or more each month to their credit cards and meets other income criteria.
Spending in restaurants by this group increased 13 percent, while average consumers spent 3 percent more in restaurants during this period.
Ultra-affluent consumers spent 12 percent more on fine dining, and 7 percent more in casual dining during the second quarter of 2010 than they did in the second quarter of 2009.American Express analyzed actual aggregated spending information from its payment network for the study.
Dieters believe healthy sides reduce a meal’s calories: study
By Dani Friedland on 9/30/2010
Adding a healthy side dish to an indulgent meal lowers the total calorie count — or at least, that’s what dieters participating in a recent study seem to believe.
In the study, 934 participants in a national online research panel were shown meals and asked to estimate the caloric content. Some were shown relatively indulgent meals, and some were shown the same meals with a healthy side dish.
For instance, participants who saw a bowl of chili with cheese gave it an average of 699 calories. Those who saw the chili paired with a green salad said it had an average of 656 calories.
On average, weight-conscious participants said the meal with the side had 10.8 percent fewer calories than the entrée alone. Among participants who are indifferent about their weight, the difference was 4.8 percent.
The same effect was found across all four meals in the test: a cheeseburger (with or without three celery sticks), a bacon-and-cheese waffle sandwich (with or without a small organic apple) and a meatball pepperoni cheesesteak (with or without a side dish of carrots and celery).
“An important factor contributing to the obesity epidemic is the misguided belief about the relationship between a meal’s healthiness and its impact on weight gain. People intuitively believe that eating healthy foods in addition to unhealthy ones can decrease a meal’s calorie count,” said Alexander Chernev, study author and associate professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, in a statement.
The study will be published in the April 2011 issue of the Journal of Consumer Psychology.
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