62 • September | October 2026 • abasto.com Convenience Surpasses Health as Top Shopping Priority for the First Time BY HERNANDO RAMÍREZ-SANTOS F or the first time in 21 years, convenience has overtaken health as the driving force be- hind Americans’ food choices. This finding is confirmed by the 2026 Food & Health Survey, conducted by the International Food Information Council (IFIC), which this year also included a Canadian sample to com- pare consumption patterns between the two countries. This finding comes at a time of eco- nomic pressure, rapid changes in the flow of information, and the growing influence of the Make America Heal- thy Again (MAHA) movement, which is redefining what “eating healthy” means for the average consumer. An Unprecedented Shift in Two Decades For two decades, the order re- mained stable: taste, price, health, convenience, and environmental sustainability. This year, changing consumer priorities disrupted that balance. Taste continues to lead with 88%, followed by price at 78%. For the first time in the survey’s history, convenience (61%) surpassed health (56%). Environmental sustainabi- lity , at 30%, remains in last place. The Price of Haste “Every year, the survey shows us where the public really stands,” exp- lained IFIC President and CEO Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak. According to her, the definition of “healthy” is no lon- ger limited to nutrition but now in- corporates freshness, naturalness, and the degree of processing. This shift is no coincidence: fast-paced lifestyles and economic priorities are pushing consumers toward more practical options, even if that means giving health less wei- ght in their decision-making. “Fresh” Reclaims the Top Spot When asked what makes a food healthy, ‘fresh’ regained the top spot with 40%, while “low in sugar” fell out of the top three for the first time. It is followed by “good source of protein” (33%), “good source of nu- trients” (31%), “low in sugar” (29%), and “natural” (28%). Since 2022, the criteria showing the strongest growth have focused on ingredients and processing. The category “no artificial ingredients or preservatives” rose by ten points, ac- cording to Kris Sollid, senior director of Consumer Research and Insights at IFIC. For Sollid, this does not dimi- nish the importance of nutrients, but it does show that consumers are now asking new questions: they no longer just ask how much sugar a product contains, but also what kind of in- gredients it contains and how much processing it has undergone. “Ultra-processed,” the buzzword of the moment The term “ultra-processed” has become part of every- day language. Fifty-two per- cent of Americans say they are familiar with it—eight points more than in 2025 and twenty more than in 2024. To determine whether a pro- duct falls into this category, consumers first turn to the ingredient list (56%) and the nutrition label (51%). Increa- singly, they also rely on their own judgment, artificial in- telligence, or the opinions of family and friends. For the supermarket and food industry, these findings point to a more demanding consumer who is only partia- lly informed and increasingly driven by convenience The New Food Pyramid: Widely Seen but Poorly Understood Three months after its launch, 83% of Americans have already seen the new Food Pyramid—a jump from the 76% and 77% who repor- ted familiarity with MyPlate in 2024 and 2025, respec- tively. However, only 54% say they know it “quite well,” a figure nearly identical to previous years. Awareness of the Dietary Guidelines that underpin the pyramid barely reaches 42%. Sollid warns of this gap between visibility and actual understanding, since seeing a chart does not guarantee that consumers will improve their diets or adopt its princi- ples. • FOOD INDUSTRY