2008 food world will focus on safety, sex appeal, trends

By J.M. Hirsch AP Food Editor - 12/31/2007

Spain, not Italy, is the world's largest producer of olive oil. A tasting panel sampled seven extra-virgin Spanish olive oils. SHNS photo

Americans are getting increasingly intimate with their food, and 2008 likely will see the relationship deepen.

That’s because two forces — the proliferation of foodie culture and its obsessive desire for provenance, and growing worries over food safety — have combined to create a whirlwind of information about food and drink.

And all signs indicate the storm is just starting. So here are some trends likely to influence what you eat in ’08.

Local foods In marketing terms, “organic” has jumped the shark. Savvy food marketers today are latching onto the latest child of the natural foods movement — local — and are trying to take it mainstream.

As eco-sensitivity has grown, consumers have questioned whether eating organic grapes from Chile is a particularly “green” choice. Now people want to know how far their food traveled, and the closer the better.

Hence, the growth in farmers markets, community supported agriculture, restaurant menus bragging about local sourcing, and the naming of “locavore” as word of the year by The New Oxford American Dictionary.

Even mainstream grocers are jumping on, offering and advertising a growing number of locally produced goods. The question is whether “local” will lose cachet once big box retailers co-opt it as they did organic.

Varietal Where once it was enough to say where and how a food was produced, consumers now also want to know the specific varieties of ingredients and breeds of animals it was produced with.

As in, whether Macouns or Red Delicious were used to make an applesauce. Or which breed of cow produced the milk used to make a particular cheese, and olive oils pressed from specific varieties of olives.

Food safety Repeated recalls of meat and produce have drawn attention to the sluggish and outdated American food safety system, and the government has faced mounting calls for an overhaul.

That likely won’t happen quickly. But unlike government, marketers work quickly. For example, some toy catalogs already labeled their products “lead-free” in time for the 2007 holiday season.

Expect food companies to be as nimble, touting new and increased safety measures. The issue (including demands for a streamlined and effective government agency to oversee the issue) also will get more headlines.

OTHER TRENDS TO WATCH FOR: