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For Immediate Release Dec. 3, 2008
Contact: Cristi Allen
callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 817-640-6166

Arlington, Texas (Dec. 3, 2008)— What foods and beverages do people in the United States think of as offering the greatest health benefits? Whole grains (59.5%) top the list, followed closely by broccoli (57.6%), bananas (56.9%), oatmeal (56.1%), green tea (55.1%), garlic (54.6%), spinach (54.6%), and carrots (52.4%). Participants in the survey were asked, “Which of the following foods and beverages provide additional health benefits beyond basic nutritional needs?” The answer list contained 70 foods and beverages commonly thought of as healthful, as well as some that might not be perceived as healthful. This data comes from the Health and Nutrition Strategist™, a major ongoing study to track nutritional and health trends, based on 4,000 interviews per year conducted by Decision Analyst, a leading international marketing research and marketing consulting firm.

“All the recent negative economic news (volatility in stock markets, high oil prices, sub-prime woes, falling home prices, rising foreclosures) has dampened the spirits and darkened the outlook for the average consumer in the U.S.,” said Jerry W. Thomas, President/CEO of Decision Analyst. “The Economic Index is now clearly indicating that significant portions of the U.S. economy are in recession.” Among the components that make up the Economic Index, the most important in driving the Index lower in January were declining expectations about future stock prices and declining “business activity” where people work. Growing concern about employment was another negative factor, but had less impact than the other two variables.

The least healthful products were “spirits,” defined as bourbon, vodka, rum, and scotch. Only 3.4% of participants identified “spirits” as healthy. Also at the bottom was beer, believed to be healthy by only 5.3% of respondents.

Methodology

Decision Analyst’s Health and Nutrition Strategist™ survey is conducted online using its American Consumer Opinion® panel (www.acop.com). The survey is based on a nationally representative, statistically balanced sample of 4,087 American adults, conducted on a continuous basis each year. The margin of error is less than 2 percentage points. The Health and Nutrition Strategist™ is a massive, integrated knowledge base of food and beverage consumption, restaurant usage, health habits, and nutritional trends.

About Decision Analyst

Decision Analyst (www.decisionanalyst.com) based in Dallas-Fort Worth, is a leading international marketing research and marketing consulting firm specializing in advertising testing, strategy research, new product development, and advanced modeling for marketing decision optimization. The 30-year-old firm delivers competitive advantage to clients throughout the world in the consumer packaged goods, telecommunications, retail, high technology, medical and pharmaceutical, utilities, and e-commerce industries. In addition, Decision Analyst owns and operates the American Consumer Opinion® online panel, which has more than seven million participants and is one of the largest such panels in the world.

For additional information contact:
Cristi Allen
Publicity
Email: callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 1.800.ANALYSIS (262.5974)
Address: 604 Avenue H East
Arlington, TX 76011

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