RD20190301

Ensure

nutritional drink We lose up

to 8 percent of our muscle mass

each decade after age 40. Last

year, Ensure introduced its Max

Protein shake, with 30 grams of

protein, for people 45 and older.

OneTouch
blood-glucose monitor
In 1850, diabetics tested
their blood sugar by adding
a drop of urine to sheep’s
wool that had been doused
with a chemical that turned
black in the presence of sugar. OneTouch
meters use a drop of blood and return the
precise glucose level within five seconds.

Purina
healthy pet food Purina has always been
known for its healthy pet food—it’s what
Admiral Richard E. Byrd fed his sled dogs

on his 1933 Antarctic expedi-

tion. Today, Beneful, Purina’s

preservative-free line of food,

comes in flavors such as beef,

potato, and green bean.

Aleve

joint-pain relief Aleve

was the first over-the-counter

medication to provide

12-hour pain relief in a single

dose. It is also available in a contoured

bottle with a cushioned cap for easier

gripping.

Centrum

multivitamin Have difficulty swallowing

pills but feel silly chewing

a gummy? In 2015, Centrum

introduced a multivitamin

in a mint form, called Vita-

Mints. They contain 18 vita-

mins and micronutrients.

rd.com 85

Trusted Brands Reader’s Digest

TRUST FACTORS Identifying America’s go-to products
was only one goal of this year’s Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands survey of 3,500
representative consumers, conducted by the national polling firm Ipsos.
We also wanted to know what influenced buying decisions, and some of
the results were surprising. For instance, price didn’t generally affect trust.
Only 10 percent of people said that an unusually low price would make them
distrust a health-care product, and only 11 percent said they distrusted
generics. Positive online reviews spoke to many people: 45 percent of those
looking for a weight-loss system said that they put significant faith in them.
Overall, the biggest factor driving trust was whether a product had worked in
the past—63 percent of people cited that factor, followed by 54 percent who
looked at the brand’s overall reputation. On the other hand, only 6 percent
of consumers said their trust was affected by a claim of being “new” or
“improved,” the lowest factor on our list.