Efforts to consume fresh, unprocessed foods have increased over the same time span that confidence in food safety declined.

A study highlights the confusion caused by America's food expiration date labeling practices and makes recommendations for a new system of food date labeling.

The study projects that there are now 62.5 million U.S. affluents, up more than 6% over the past two years (affluents are defined as adults aged 18+ living in households with at least $100,000 in annual household income).

Some shopper segments appear to be increasing their acceptance of private label, with more than a third of shoppers still saying that they are buying more private-label brands than last year.

Prepared Foods discusses Asian cuisine with Jean Lee, R&D director for Windsor Foods’ Golden Tiger business. Lee studied home economics and nutrition in college (1968) and worked in her family’s L.A. Chinese restaurant. She founded Golden Tiger in 1977. The L.A. operation produces frozen Egg Rolls, Spring Rolls, Potstickers, Cha Su Bao, Siew Mai and Rangoon.

The results reveal some divergence from some of the commonly held beliefs surrounding this important and upcoming cohort.

Some 83% of consumers indicated that they sometimes buy private label brands if the product is better or it offers a higher value than the national brand alternative.

A substantial majority of grocery shoppers (85%) report that they do some kind of planning beforehand.

More than 65% believe that what the family eats reflects their personal values.

While no changes are expected in the short term, analysts predict the grocery giant may well "tinker" with the brand.