Glycemic Index

What may be the next big thing in food marketing doesn’t sound like a bell ringer: Glycemic Index. But get ready for foodmakers from Kraft to Kellogg to Atkins to tout it as the next carb control. It’s not low carb; it’s slooooow carb. The Glycemic Index—familiar to South Beach Diet followers—measures how fast a carbohydrate is digested and raises blood-sugar levels…Last year, 175 new products were marketed as “low glycemic,” vs. two in 1999, says Productscan Online. Some 33 more were rolled out through this March…Some experts project low-glycemic food could become the next big diet fad. Others say it’s way too complex for American consumers.

—Bruce Horovitz, USA Today, 5/4/05