--- title: American Consumption of Cookies in Severe Decline description: Consumers are passing on processed baked goods in favor of healthier options. canonical: https://time.com/3658261/severe-cookie-decline/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-07T19:52:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:21.311Z og:title: American Consumption of Cookies in Severe Decline og:description: Consumers are passing on processed baked goods in favor of healthier options. og:url: https://time.com/3658261/severe-cookie-decline/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt62bb22f88ec832b1/698778a7e53aba0ca54d6e69/cookie.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4672 og:image:height: 2628 og:image:alt: Cookies og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: American Consumption of Cookies in Severe Decline twitter:description: Consumers are passing on processed baked goods in favor of healthier options. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt62bb22f88ec832b1/698778a7e53aba0ca54d6e69/cookie.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # American Consumption of Cookies in Severe Decline > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: The Truth About Fat [Watch (HLS stream): The Truth About Fat](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uYGhfNfS.m3u8) (5:15)  _Published 2014-06-12. When you want to lose weight or get healthy, what is the first thing you would normally cut from your diet? If you said fat, you're not alone_ by [Mike Pomranz / Food & Wine](https://time.com/author/food-wine-2/) ## Mike Pomranz / Food & Wine Jan 7, 2015 7:52 PM UTC  Chocolate chip biscuits Chocolate chip biscuits Getty Images by [Mike Pomranz / Food & Wine](https://time.com/author/food-wine-2/) ## Mike Pomranz / Food & Wine Jan 7, 2015 7:52 PM UTC Much of America’s health news over the past decade or so has revolved around the obesity epidemic. We’ve identified many possible culprits such as fast food and a more sedentary lifestyle, but sugar has taken a lot of the brunt of the criticism. So maybe we shouldn’t be surprised how much cookie consumption has declined over that same period. A study published in the _Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics_ looked at products known as “ready-to-eat grain-based desserts” – also known as RTE GBDs – that include pre-packaged baked goods like cookies, cakes, pies, donuts and other pastries. What they found was that, between 2005 and 2012, sales of these products declined by a massive 24%. Health experts consider this the good news. The bad news, [according to EurekaAlert!](http://www.eurekalert.org/pub%5Freleases/2014-12/ehs-cpo121914.php), is that “there has been little change in the nutritional content of RTE GBDs manufactured or purchased” during that same period. This could mean that companies could sell more of their sweet products if they’d just make them a bit healthier. If this severe decline in cookie consumption bothers you there is still a few more days left in the year to eat a lot of Christmas cookies. Enjoy! \[h/t [Grub Street](http://www.grubstreet.com/2014/12/americans-cut-down-on-cakes-cookies.html)\] _This_ [_article_](http://www.foodandwine.com/fwx/food/american-consumption-cookies-severe-decline) _originally appeared on_ [_FWx_](http://www.foodandwine.com/fwx/)_._ _Read more from FWx:_ * [5 Ways to Save the World Through Food That Are Way Easier Than You Think](http://www.foodandwine.com/fwx/secrets/5-ways-save-world-through-food-are-way-easier-you-think?xid=PS%5Ftime) * [Scientists Create the Most Convincing Veggie Burger Yet](http://www.foodandwine.com/fwx/food/scientists-create-most-convincing-veggie-burger-yet?xid=PS%5Ftime) * [The Food of the Future is Coming to Boston](http://www.foodandwine.com/fwx/food/food-future-coming-boston?xid=PS%5Ftime) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3658261/severe-cookie-decline/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3658261/severe-cookie-decline/"},"headline":"American Consumption of Cookies in Severe Decline","datePublished":"2015-01-07T19:52:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:45:21.311Z","description":"Consumers are passing on processed baked goods in favor of healthier options","url":"https://time.com/3658261/severe-cookie-decline/","keywords":["Living","Economy","cookies","healthy food","food and drink"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt62bb22f88ec832b1/698778a7e53aba0ca54d6e69/cookie.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mike Pomranz / Food & Wine"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt62bb22f88ec832b1/698778a7e53aba0ca54d6e69/cookie.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Cookies","caption":"","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3658261/severe-cookie-decline/","name":"American Consumption of Cookies in Severe Decline"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Truth About Fat","description":"When you want to lose weight or get healthy, what is the first thing you would normally cut from your diet? 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