Best New "Free-From" Foods

Here's an event to plan your vacations around. The Mintel International product tasting sessions at the annual Institute for Food Technologists (IFT) expo. Held in Chicago this year, the winners include some old favorites and some new delights.

From the press release from Mintel:

In the free-from food category the three top products were all reworks of traditional American favorites.

Taking the top spot was Breyer’s lactose-free, all natural vanilla ice cream. In second place was Great Value Peanut Free Smooth Soy Butter from Wal-Mart, which as well as being peanut free, has no trans fats and is free from cholesterol and gluten. In third place is that cannot-live-without condiment: ketchup. Soma‘s Nomato in the UK is a tomato-free ketchup made from ingredients including carrots, concentrated apple and beetroot juices.

“We are increasingly seeing everyday foods modified appropriately for a wide variety of allergy sufferers,” comments Lynn Dornblaser, Senior Consultant for Mintel Custom Solutions.

“Free-from foods are often seen as better for you and in the future these products will undoubtedly benefit from general health and wellness trends. We could even see them become part of the cultural fabric, in the same way that vegetarianism has done in Europe,” she concludes.

Yoplait Kids low-fat yogurts with Omega-3 DHA also took first place in the Brain Function category, since Omega-3 is reputed to help brain development.