Seismic shift in what Americans eat

New York

IT'S easy to make fun of people in big US cities for their obsession with gluten, or chia seeds, or cleanses. But urbanites are not the only ones turning away from the products created by big food companies. Eating habits are changing across the United States and food companies are struggling to keep up.

General Mills will drop all artificial colours and flavours from its cereals. Perdue, Tyson and Foster Farm have begun to limit the use of antibiotics in their chicken. Kraft declared it was dropping artificial dyes from its macaroni and cheese. Hershey's will begin to move away from ingredients such as the emulsifier polyglycerol polyricinoleate to "simple and easy-to-understand ingredients" such as "fresh milk from local farms, roasted California almonds, cocoa beans and sugar".