Canvas8 reports are available to Canvas8 subscribers. What follows is an adaptation of the research; the full report can be accessed via the View Report link.
Abstract
The rules used to be printed on the cereal box. Low-fat was virtuous, the food pyramid hung on classroom walls, and a government label settled most arguments. Now one shopping cart holds raw milk, beef tallow and grass-fed steak, while the next holds protein bars and a GLP-1 prescription, and each is a statement of who that person trusts. "The foodie who was evangelizing oat milk and flexitarianism a few years ago is now drinking raw milk and sourcing grass-fed beef," says food strategist Tanita de Ruijt. When eating becomes a matter of belief, every label reads as a statement of faith.
The research draws on interviews with Tanita de Ruijt, a food and drink strategist who trained as a chef and studied the anthropology of food at SOAS, and Stephanie Alice Baker, a sociologist at City, University of London and co-author of Lifestyle Gurus, a study of how wellness influencers build authority online.
The findings
Trust in the FDA fell from 74% in 2024 to 62% in early 2026, and the CDC dropped from 76% to 60%. The split inside those numbers matters more. Career scientists at federal agencies keep the confidence of 67% of Americans, while the agencies' political leaders get just 43%. The distrust is aimed at the people in charge.
Nearly 20% of Americans now trust health influencers more than their local doctor, and 38% of Gen Z use social media as a trusted health source. Baker sees a familiar pattern: "the erosion of institutional trust encourages people to seek alternative authority figures for guidance, knowledge and support."
Shoppers arrive with their minds made up. They cross-reference podcasts and scan barcodes with apps like Yuka to overrule front-of-pack claims. Each belief system reads different signals: "Cues such as fermentation, rawness, craft, and provenance have become the new markers of food authenticity and health credibility," says de Ruijt.
Raw milk sales rose between 21% and 65% across tracked states from 2023 to 2024, even as bird flu detections climbed in the dairy supply, and legalization in several states has made it a culture war status symbol. Seed oils, considered heart-healthy by mainstream science, are blamed online for cancer and diabetes with no basis in human outcome data. Researchers call the shared thread "medical populism."
Protein ranks first among Americans' top ten food priorities and minimal processing ninth, yet the high-protein products people want most are among the most processed on the market.
Households on GLP-1s cut grocery spend by 5.3% within six months, moving toward yogurt, fruit and nutrition bars, a shift big enough for Mars to buy Kevin's Natural Foods and Ferrero to buy Power Crunch. Yet 69% of users globally are interested in natural alternatives to the drug, and 77.6% have abandoned a snack purchase because the options were confusing. As de Ruijt puts it, "A person who turned to GLP-1 for chronic health management thinks and spends very differently to someone driven by aesthetics, social pressure, or longevity."
What this means for brands
- Pick your congregation: trying to speak every nutritional language means being fluent in none. Lowes Foods' Brown Bag private label makes one clear promise, its "7 No's," to one kind of shopper, and it reads instantly at the shelf.
- Be the fixed point: trends will turn on you, so know what you won't trade. Oatly answered its critics with fckoatly.com, a site cataloging every controversy against it, and it held up because the brand's purpose was never in doubt.
- Answer the questions in the aisle: 13.5% of GLP-1 users say they need more information in-store before they buy. Nestlé's Vital Pursuit leads with protein, vitamins and gut health, and Noom's Microdose GLP-1Rx program builds around each user's reasons. Start from what people are trying to become.
Canvas8 is a behavioural insights agency whose reports are used by brands and agencies worldwide. This page highlights key findings from the report; the full version is available to Canvas8 members.
Alice Sweitzer
