Atkins becomes popular, red meat sales boost
The Atkins diet encourages people to cut down on carbohydrates and eat dairy products, meat and fish.
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08/05/2003
Britain is becoming a nation of red meat eaters once again as growing numbers of people turn to the steak and sausages demanded by the Atkins diet, the latest food craze to sweep the country.
Sales of red meat are at their highest levels ever despite the BSE scare of the 1990s and decades of health promotion campaigns trying to persuade consumers to eat less.
The Atkins diet, invented in the 1970s by the late Robert C Atkins, a New York cardiologist, encourages people to cut down on carbohydrates and eat dairy products, meat and fish.
Last week the Meat and Livestock Commission revealed that total meat consumption in Britain was 4.3m tons last year, an increase of 10% since the height of the BSE crisis in 1996. Sales of red meat, including bacon, a staple of the Atkins diet, were up 11% over the same period.
Waitrose said it had seen a 16% increase in meat sales over the past year while potatoes, rice and pasta had stayed on the shelves. Both Tesco and Safeway have also reported higher sales of meat. Last week Unilever, the food manufacturing giant, attributed a fall in profits for its Slim.Fast weight-loss product to the popularity of the Atkins diet.
Now Atkins Nutritionals, which had a turnover of £60m last year, is negotiating with British supermarkets to introduce its own range of products which offer low-carb versions of bread, crisps, cakes, chocolate biscuits and peanut butter.
The Atkins diet has already become a marketing phenomenon in America. Atkins own-brand products are already on sale in America. They include low-carb bread made from corn starch instead of flour, and inulin, a natural extract of chicory root which adds fibre and body to the bread. Although touted as the “best thing since sliced bread”, Atkins has had to resort to natural and artificial flavouring to make it taste like the traditional product.
The company has also produced treats such as Atkins Endulge chocolate bars, with a choice of peanut butter cups or caramel nut chew. “Now, cutting back on sugar and other carbs has never tasted so good or been so easy,” says its promotional material.
One of the reasons for Atkins’s success has been its appeal to men, who traditionally steer clear of diet fads.