US-Reuters Summit-Euro food groups look for healthy U.S. options

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Leading European food groups are looking to healthier new products to boost growth in the United States and deflect criticism that the food industry is fueling obesity, food executives told the Reuters Food Summit in Chicago this week.

Consumer goods giant Unilever and confectionery group Cadbury Schweppes are looking to lower sugar and fat levels and introduce products with health benefits to tap into the trend toward more health conscious eating habits in the Unites States.

Anglo-Dutch Unilever Plc/NV (ULVR.L) (UNc.AS), the maker of Hellmann's mayonnaise and Ragu sauces, is in the midst of its vitality program to introduce healthier foods, while the world's biggest confectionery group, Cadbury (CBRY.L), stressed the sugar-free and health properties of its new chewing gums.

Last year, Unilever launched organic Ragu sauce, Skippy natural peanut butter, Hellmann's with canola oil and emphasized the healthy benefits of its teas, like Lipton.

"I think consumers are demanding that we get less processed in general in everything we do. Their expectation is that we are going to get closer to the source. This is easier to do in certain categories than others," said Unilever's U.S. chief, Michael Polk.

Even in its Slim-Fast dietary foods, which suffered from the short-lived popularity of the Atkins diet, Unilever has launched a line of muffin bars which the consumer perceives to be more wholesome and less processed, Polk said.

Unilever is also introducing new nutritional products with its Knorr Vie fruit/vegetable smoothie being rolled out across Europe and its Pro-Activ range of spreads and drinks to lower cholesterol and blood pressure, which may come to the United States.

Polk said the two big drivers of the food business are to simplify life for consumers and also to make "the healthy choice the easy choice."

"The days of cooking from scratch are long gone, so we are simplifying the experience so Mom can spend time with the kids and also herself. People want to eat better and drink better every day," he said.

Cadbury, which bought Adams in 2003 to bring it chewing gum brands such as Trident and Dentyne, is moving toward sugar-free gums -- which saw 10 percent to 12 percent growth last year in a U.S. gum market up an overall 7 percent.

Jim Cali, president of commercial strategy for the group's Americas confectionery business, said 90 percent of its chewing gum portfolio is sugar-free, while it had a 63 percent share of the sugar-free cough drops market with Hall's, in a U.S. sector