Wondering what dietary preferences are most common?

Published in

Ibotta Engine

4 min readMar 23, 2015

The dietary landscape is quickly morphing. More and more individuals are choosing to remove certain foods from their daily consumption habits due to intolerance, allergies, doctors orders, or personal preferences.

In particular, the frequency of children who are battling food allergies (like nut allergies) seems higher than normal. This is further evident by the emergence of new ‘Nut Free’ schools for children. Additionally, as heart disease and obesity continue to take a toll on the health and well-being of many Americans, there has been a renewed focus on healthy eating and removing foods that are high in calories (re: Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign). Furthermore, new fears on the long-term effects of sugar and sugar substitutes, like high fructose corn syrup, have resulted in more individuals, beyond those who have been diagnosed as diabetic or pre-diabetic, removing sugar from their diets.

As food allergies and food intolerance become increasingly prevalent, researchers continue to look for ways to help alleviate and mitigate medical risks related to these issues. In mid-February, researchers from the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) released the results of a Phase II trial for a skin patch that introduces a new and possibly more effective way of treating deadly food allergies. While researchers continue to look for medical advancements that will help individuals overcome restrictions, the packaged foods industry is vastly increasing the diversity of their offerings to help meet the needs of American households.

In fact, our teammates at Ibotta just returned from one of the largest natural and organic conferences in the world, Natural Products Expo West. Hosted by NewHope 360 in sunny Southern California, this conference brought together 65,000 professional working in the natural and organics space, up 23% from 2009. The conference highlights a wide range of products that are suitable for individuals with dietary needs and restrictions including gluten-free, nut-free, diary-free, vegan, and vegetarian products.

With an increasingly diverse dietary landscape, we decided to poll Ibotta users to better under which dietary needs and preferences are most common in America. Of the 70,000 users we asked, 32% identified as having a dietary need or restriction. Below, is a snapshot of their eating habits:

What is your dietary need or preference? Find your dietary badge below and feel free to share. Also, tell us which badge is your favorite. We personally can’t decided between nut-free and vegan.