Why the Digestion Market Isn't Exploding

The digestion market should be booming right now. Health care costs are surging, the population is aging and more people are travelling—thus trying new foods and experiencing digestive issues. As Tom Vierhile, innovation insights director, Datamonitor, will explain in an upcoming INSIDER Report on the digestive health market, consumers are interested in using natural supplements to aid their stomach woes.

Research from Datamonitor report the percentage of consumers who say they are paying either a “high amount of attention" or “very high amount of attention" to their general health is high and rising. A 2010 global consumer survey from the market research company reported 63 percent of consumers globally are paying high or very high levels of attention to health and 58 percent of American consumers are doing so. Other stats from that report, while not  directly related to digestion, are of interest to this market:

• Just under half of consumers globally buy functional food and beverage products (defined as products with added health benefits) all or most of the time.
• Some 80 percent of American consumers either “strongly agree" or “tend to agree" that certain foods can have health benefits that go beyond basic nutrition. That’s higher than the global numbers that have 72 percent of consumers showing the same level of agreement.

Yet, still the digestive market hasn't been able to flourish like these numbers suggest it should. According to Vierhile, the biggest issue comes from governments. The European Union (EU) in particular has imposed  increasingly stringent regulations. In 2006, the EU passed regulations designed to ensure food health claims were scientifically proven. Stemming from this ruling, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was inundated with more than 4,600 health claims to examine in 2011. EFSA was only able to work through 900 assessments at the time, and roughly 80 percent of the product claims were turned down.

Some notable digestion companies with claims either turned town by EFSA or withdrawn from the evaluation process include:

• Yakult—An October 2010 ruling on 12 studies submitted by the company for its proprietary strain of probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus casei shirota) by the EFSA panel found the submitted proof was “inadequate" to support the claim that Yakult could maintain immune defenses against the common cold. Yakult appealed these findings, but that appeal was rejected in summer 2011.
• Danone—The company withdrew an immune- and digestive-related claim application from EFSA for its Actimel brand after the Yakult decision. And at roughly the same time, FTC reached a settlement with Danone, with the latter agreeing to remove what were termed as “exaggerated" health claims from its Activa yogurt and DanActive dairy drinks.

These regulatory actions may have caused a cooling effect, as Vierhile will note, recent introductions of digestive health products have declined, and product health claims are now less specific.

Regulators may not be the only ones questioning digestive health claim. In the Report, Vierhile will provide evidence from a 2008 Datamonitor global consumer survey, which reported 38 percent of Americans (and 37 percent of consumers globally) consider food and beverage products claiming to boost digestive health to be “somewhat trustworthy" or “completely trustworthy." And these numbers were before the most recent regulatory fallout.

Other issues faced by this sector, according to Vierhile, include taste and the perception that functional foods are more expensive than “regular" foods.

The INSIDER Report on Digestive Health, which will be published on NaturalProductsINSIDER.com on March 7, 2012, will examine these issues, and review consumer attitudes, behaviors and perceptions pertaining to digestive health.  Vierhile will also identify consumer segments that promise high-growth potential, recent trends in new products  and specific product launches. I suggest anyone interested in the digestion market check out the exclusive report to help better his or her business.