High-carb industries woo dieters with data

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Potato farmers, Florida citrus growers and other high-carb industries are fighting back against the current craze for low-carbohydrate diets by rolling out campaigns to promote their foods.

Other food companies with high-carb products, such as pasta manufacturers, are introducing low-carb alternatives in a scramble to capitalize on the low-carb phenomenon.

The U.S. Potato Board, a Denver group of 100 potato growers, will begin a $4.4 million campaign next month to promote "The Healthy Potato." The campaign focuses on the potato's nutritional aspects, which often are overlooked by consumers, spokeswoman Linda McCashion said.

The campaign also will be promoted at Weight Watchers centers nationwide next month. Weight Watchers International Inc., a Woodbury, N.J., weight-loss services company, is starting a "Pick of the Season" education campaign to encourage healthy eating of fruits and vegetables. It will showcase the potato first.

"With so much talk about low-carb diets out there, fruits, vegetables and grains have been misperceived as unhealthy when really they are an important part of the diet," spokesman Jerry Casanova said.

The potato campaign was started after three years of declining consumer support for the starchy tuber.

The Florida Department of Citrus is spending about $1.8 million on a marketing campaign to combat the negative image orange juice has earned owing to low-carb diets.

Orange juice consumption has dropped by 44 million gallons, or 5 percent, from 888 million gallons in the 2000-01 growing season. Citrus officials said a noticeable drop occurred in March, when low-carb diets were exploding on the market.

The Wheat Foods Council, a Parker, Colo., association for the grains industry, has been pushing the "Grains of Truth About Fad Diets and Obesity," a campaign featuring a March Gallup Poll in which 75 percent of respondents said low-carb diets offer quick results but few long-term benefits.