Health

Here's What Food Is Trending

June 19th 2016

Pinterest boards and perfect Instagram pics offer an idealized vision of what we eat: farm-to-table kale, vegan feta, exotic kabobs. But Google's Food Trends Report 2016 reveals the nasty truth: and it's bacon, cake, and cheese curds.

You may be surprised by which foods are trending — and which aren't.

Foods on the rise

Google's report breaks food trends down into "sustained risers" (foods that have shown steady growth in Google searches), "seasonal risers" (foods that might become big soon), and "rising stars" (foods that have shown sudden growth but may not stick around).

Sustained risers

  • Ramen
  • Rigatoni (that's right — pasta is back)
  • Bibimbap
  • Linguine
  • Empanada
  • Uncured bacon
  • Bundt cakes

Seasonal risers

  • Pho
  • Overnight oats
  • Bitter melon
  • Pork shoulder
  • Smash cake (literally just a cake for a baby to smash)
  • Gender reveal cake
  • Cheese curds

Rising stars

Foods on the decline

The report also reveals which foods are declining in searches and trends. These are grouped into "sustained decliners" (foods that are steadily declining or trends that are dying out), "seasonal decliners" (foods that are declining and likely to decline even more with every year), and "falling stars" (foods that are pretty much over).

Sustained decliners

  • Gluten-free cupcakes
  • Evaporated cane juice
  • Wheat-free bread
  • Bacon cupcakes
  • Bacon cinnamon rolls (guys, come on.)

Seasonal decliners

  • Quinoa
  • Wedding cakes
  • Kale chips
  • Red velvet cake
  • Agave nectar
  • Marshmallow fondant

Falling stars

  • Rainbow bagel (already?)
  • Vanilla bean paste
  • Dutch Baby pancake
  • Mulligan stew
  • Buffalo chicken fries (What? Guys. Come on. What?)
  • Chocolate slices

Gluten-free is actually on the decline, and pasta is back on the rise.

pasta statisticsGoogle/Google’s Food Trends Report 2016 - googleapis.com

As you can see from the decline in searches for "gluten-free cupcakes" and "wheat-free bread," and the increase in searches for "rigatoni" and "linguine," wheat and pasta are making a comeback. Take that, spaghetti squash.

Searches for "gluten-free diet" fell by 14 percent in 2016. Oddly, searches for "symptoms of gluten intolerance" increased by 24 percent, and searches for "does rice have gluten" went up by 17 percent. (Answer: It does not.)

Other trends of note

It looks as though the recent kale explosion may finally be petering out, which is great news for anyone who has just had it with the kale trend.

kale chip recipes on PinterestPinterest

It's also interesting to note that searches for "wedding cake" are declining, perhaps in favor of trendier wedding cake alternatives.

As for food-related "how to" questions, the top search term was "how to cut a mango," which increased by 61 percent.

And right below it? "How to bake bacon," which grew by 6 percent.

Never change, internet. Never change.

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[H/T AG Web]