Despite allowances for indulgence in a stressful year, our Health & Wellness: Reimagining Well-being Amid COVID-19 report finds that excess sugar concerns remain front and center on consumers’ radar of ingredients to control: 51% saying they are decreasing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), followed by 42% who say they are avoiding or decreasing refined sugar. As we’ve seen for years in Hartman Group research, sugar continues to be a key area of concern across all dimensions of health and wellness lifestyles (ranging from those consumers most involved to those least involved).
 

With negative perceptions of sugar widespread, consumers point to many dimensions of concern around it, aligned with contemporary notions of health and wellness. They worry about both its immediate and cumulative, long-term effects, including weight management, metabolism, inflammation, gut health, and cognition—although exactly what those effects are will differ by how engaged consumers are with health and wellness lifestyles.
 

Overall, consumers are finding ways to incorporate sweetness into their eating and drinking routines by managing occasions and reaching for what they view as more healthful sweetener choices.
 

[Source] The Hartman Group’s Health & Wellness: Reimagining Well-being Amid COVID-19 report