Pasta sauce, hold the pasta

Low-carb lifestyles turn spaghetti sauce makers away from spaghetti.
December 29, 2003: 3:17 PM EST



NEW YORK (Reuters) - Even tomato sauce has turned cool to pasta as Americans try to whittle down their waistlines with low-carbohydrate diets.

A new advertising campaign by saucemaker Prego blankets poultry in its signature sauce instead of spaghetti, aimed at an audience hunting for protein to fulfill strict eating regimens like Atkins and the South Beach Diet.

Food industry experts say the campaign is part of a major marketing effort to come from top U.S. food companies, like Prego owner Campbell Soup or Kraft, who will try to align products with the low-carb craze in 2004.

They expect such companies to offer new versions of their products or play up the low-carb qualities of existing brands, just as many seized on the low-fat mania two decades ago.

"Mainstream manufacturers like Campbell's are recognizing that most Americans do not want to be on a low-carb diet, but do want to cut out the amount of junk carbs in their daily menus," said Dean Rotbart, executive editor of the LowCarbiz newsletter.

"I believe there is actually a second industry that is being born right now that I would call a carb-controlled industry," he said.

A new 30-second television commercial from Prego, part of a series of ads to debut with the New Year, opens with a shot of crimson sauce ladled onto sizzling chicken parmesan rather than a plate of pasta, a fixture of spaghetti sauce ads.

Thick with nostalgia and violin music, the spot created by WPP Group's Young & Rubicam agency portrays chicken as part of a traditional meal under their tagline: "Bring something nice to the table. Your family."

"We don't want to turn away on folks who eat pasta. You can't have pasta sauce without pasta, but we want to make sure we are addressing the current trends," Chris Slager, business director at Prego, told Reuters.

Slager said the chicken parmigiana commercial was one of two new spots focusing on the match between tomato sauce and high-protein foods.

Two additional ads will depict pasta meals. Prego doesn't plan a lower-carb line of pasta sauces, which generally use sugars or sweeteners for taste, he said.

Rotbart said as many as 32 million Americans were estimated to be on the Atkins diet or similar programs, which restrict carbohydrate intake to about 40 grams per day.

But food manufacturers are more likely to target a much larger U.S. market -- up to 125 million people -- who are overweight and willing to buy reduced carbohydrate products rather than renounce them altogether, he said.

In the last year, brewer Anheuser-Busch made a lucrative foray into the market with the low-carb Michelob Ultra beer and H.J. Heinz said it planned a low-carb twist on its famed tomato ketchup.

Fast-food chains like the Blimpie's sandwich shops and McDonald's have also tested lower carb menu options.

"If you are in the breakfast cereal business, how long will it be before you have to have a lower-carb 'Special K'? It's inevitable," Rotbart said, referring to Kellogg's cereal for the diet-conscious. "By the time we close out 2004, it will be prevalent."


http://money.cnn.com/2003/12/29/new....reut/index.htm

Demi,
I love the article. Finally companies are getting the message.

joan

Too bad Prego isn't going to come out with a lower carb version of their sauce. The two that I checked had 13 grams of carb for 1/2 cup of sauce and contained corn syrup.
It does seem that the big corporations are starting to get the message, though. Let's hope they take the time to understand what low carb actually is before flooding the market with low carb or controlled carb products.

For the ultimate health of everybody, I think controlled-carb is the way we need to go. If I had practiced a controlled-carb WOE as I was growing up, I'm sure I would not be in the shape I'm in and trying to get out of.

Is anyone aware of a low carb marinara sauce? I haven't seen one yet.

Classico w/ Italian Sausage is the lowest carb I've found in regular stores. Ragu Flavored w/ Meat is second.

Easy Low Carb Marinara Sauce

Olive Oil Heat in a pot at medium heat.

Minced garlic Add to warming oil Heat until you smell it.

Add 1 tin of diced or ground tomatoes and

1 Tsp dried thyme.

Heat through at medium heat or lower.

Takes 5 minutes to do and then you just simmer it until ready to eat.

Serve on spaghetti squash, French cut green beans, any chicken, meat or other vegetables.

Classico is the best brand I have tried by far.

LOL just last week I decided to experiment with sphagetti sauce on chicken. I tried the Classico with sausage - tasted great!

I use Paesana Marinara

Serving size 1/2 Cup
Calories 70
Fat 4g
Sodium 400
Carb 7g
Fiber 2g
Sugar 3g
Protein 2g

Ingredients: Whole peeled tomatoes, Crushed Tomatoes, Fresh onions, 100% extra virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, sea salt, fresh basil, black pepper, spices.



It has no sugar and tastes amazing.

I have actually just heated it up added some cheese and eaten it like soup with a spoon.

I will note that for this sauce I count the full 7g carbs per 1/2 cup and do not subtract fiber because for one of their other sauces once I was subtracting fiber and one day I looked and the fiber and sugar counts didnt add up correctly to the carb count and so I assume they already deduct fiber and dont tell you. That, or it was a typo. If they deducted fiber from one of their sauces, I assume its the same for all of them. I always meant to call and ask them but never got around to it.

7g per 1/2 cup isnt bad and I would rather be safe then sorry.

hmm

while I was typing this I noticed the values different from what I remember.

According to my fitday when I entered it the first time it was 110 calories and 10g carbs.

It seems theyve changed it on this jar so I wrote them a quick note asking about it and about the fiber thing.

WARNING! They've just changed the label on Classico - and pumped up the sugar, too. The old label (dark) for the Italian Sausage w/ Peppers and Onion listed Total Carbs at 8, Fiber 2, Sugars 4.

On the new label, Total Carbs jump to 14! and Sugars double.

Ragu has a new low-carb sauce out, so I bought that instead.