- reporter, George Sandermann
- reporter, BBC News
From pancakes, pasta to rice pudding, and oven pizza, the supermarket shelves are full of foods that promote ‘high -end’.
Celebrities are also participating in this craze. Chloe Kardashian, a famous American broadcaster, launched ‘Cloud Protein Popcorn’ two weeks ago, “Cloud Protein Popcorn,” and in January of this year, actor Jack Efron promoted protein -rich porridge products.
Is this a simple marketing strategy that increases protein -related product advertising or a product that really helps to grow muscles or health?
And would these high -protein products make that price?
First of all, sales of these foods are increasing. According to the data provided by the market research firm Mintel, 8.3%of the foods released in January -March 2025, except for sports nutrition products, contained the phrase that protein or high protein.
This is an increase of 6.1%compared to 2024 and 4.6%compared to 2023.
Mintel’s research director Kitty Soininen explained that such protein -related advertisements began to appear in unexpected products as well as foods such as chicken breasts and beans with high protein content.
Photo source, Getty Images
“Mousse, desserts, granola, pancakes, and even pizza are also being released with the phrases of high protein,” said Soininen, “The protein has a kind of ‘health halo’ image.”
Ethan Smith, who works as a personal trainer in Liverpool, UK, says he needs a high -protein diet to grow muscles, but is enough without high protein snacks or drinks.
“I think natural food is the best,” Smith added, “I think you can get the necessary protein through vegetables and meat intake.”
At the same time, high -protein snacks are so easy to eat, and as the public’s interest in protein increases, food manufacturers seem to have used protein as a marketing tool.
In order for a food company to use the phrase ‘protein source’, it must prove that more than 12% of the total energy content is protein. In order to advertise ‘high protein’, it must be achieved more than 20%.
In order to achieve this value, companies often increase density by adding protein -rich materials such as nuts and beans to the product or removing moisture.
“If you want to finish lunch quickly, you often find protein bars and protein shakes instead of two eggs,” he said.
In fact, protein is effective in many ways, including muscle formation, improving athletic ability, weight loss through appetite, and health care for women who are pregnant.
Meanwhile, Professor Paul Morgan, a nutrition expert, explained that if you want to grow muscles, you should eat about 1.6g of protein per kilogram of weight every day and about 1.2g if you want to maintain your health as a whole.
At the same time, many of the commercial products that advertise on protein content are “marketing tricks,” and warns that the benefits of health may not be as big as advertising.
“It can be helpful for health, but many of these products are concerned that they are super processed foods. Super processed foods are recently attracting attention, but there are many unknown parts.”
Risk of overprisoned protein intake
Last month, the controversial controversy of super processed foods is hot, with research results that super processed foods are related to early death.
According to Professor Morgan, nutritionists are currently studying how one of them is different in the muscles, even if it is a similar protein source.
Another problem is calorie. People often experience weight gain while trying to eat more protein. Morgan explained that this is because excessive protein is stored in the body as fat.
Some high protein snacks and drinks may have almost the same calorie levels as general products using similar ingredients. The calories of the protein peanut chocolate bar of ‘Nature Valley’ are 489kcal per 100g, and the calories of CADBuree’s chocolate peanut brunch bar are 485kcal per 100g.
However, Dr. Morgan dismissed the claim that excessive protein intake was harmful to bones or kidneys.
Photo source, Getty Images
Although I am concerned about super protein products, Morgan says that diets rich in protein are good for health. In particular, older people who want to keep their muscles and bones strong may require more protein than the general public.
On the other hand, the high -protein Pennefasta sold by Tesco contains 8.8g of protein per 100g, while the general pen is 5.8g of protein per weight.
However, compared to the general pen, which is 1.29 pounds per kilogram, the high -protein pen is more expensive at 4.80 pounds per kilogram.
If so, is it worth buying these protein products at a higher price?
Smith says that if you need more protein to maintain your health, or if you want to achieve a daily protein intake goal to grow your muscles, it can be helpful to some extent. “Most of the diets are natural foods, and if you need about 20g of protein, and sweets like pudding or snacks, you can choose.”
But Smith added, “A balanced diet is important. That is, it should not depend on these products.”
“When I first started working as a trainer, people thought that it was just a dietary supplement. But now it’s harder to find a product that doesn’t put protein.”
