The Problem With Social Media Food Trends

Have you found yourself baking feta pasta, whipping up dalgona coffee, or trying Filipino ube cheesecake? If yes, it’s likely because you saw them being done over at different social media platforms.

From TikTok recipe hacks to Instagram-worthy plating, food trends now explode online faster than ever.  And honestly? It's exciting. 

We're discovering flavors from around the world and learning new techniques. Our kitchens have never been more adventurous!

Behind all the fun, though, there's a bigger problem hiding behind all those viral recipes.

Curious and want to know more? Read on as we discuss:

• How viral trends create food shortages and make prices unfair

• The effect of choosing aesthetics over substance

• How small food businesses can be affected

• What happens when food culture becomes just for show

• What we can do to eat smarter, support better, and resist the algorithm

At the end of this article, you'll understand why our current food trend obsession can't last—and what we're losing in the process.

When virality causes shortages

The moment a recipe goes viral, demand explodes. The results? Shortages, supply chain pressure, and sudden price hikes.

Let’s take a look at the examples mentioned earlier: 

• Feta pasta sent global cheese sales soaring, wiping out store shelves and overwhelming producers across Europe. 

• Dalgona coffee, which exploded during COVID-19 lockdowns, caused a sharp spike in instant coffee demand—especially in South Korea, where imports jumped by 65% in March 2020. Sales surged in places like Malaysia, too, putting pressure on supply chains, even if full-blown shortages weren’t widespread.

• Filipino ube is seeing growing demand in the US and abroad. But in provinces like Quezon and Benguet, rising export demand and climate impacts have driven up prices, making this everyday staple harder to access for local families.

These aren’t isolated stories. When global audiences chase viral trends, small producers lose control over supply. Retailers hike prices. And local communities—the ones who’ve grown, cooked, and relied on these ingredients for years—end up with less access to their own food.

The effect of choosing aesthetics over substance

On social media, the meals that go viral are rarely balanced or practical—they're designed to grab attention. Cheese pulls, bright colors, overloaded desserts; the focus is on the visual, not the value. Most of these recipes rely on sugar, fat, and processed ingredients, not nutrition.

But the impact goes beyond nutrition. Many trends rely on rare ingredients, oversized portions, or tools people buy once and never use again. These dishes are often made for the sake of a post, not for real eating, so leftovers are ignored, ingredients go bad, and food ends up in the trash. Instead of building lasting habits, viral cooking leads to higher costs, more waste, and poorer diets.

The long-term effect? Poorer diets, rising health risks like obesity and diabetes, and more food being thrown out for the sake of trends. What looks good online is costing us more than we think: on our plates, in our wallets, and in our health.

The pressure on small food businesses

Trend cycles move fast—sometimes too fast for most small food businesses to match. One viral dish can shift demand overnight, forcing local restaurants and suppliers to adapt or risk falling behind.

But chasing trends comes at a cost. A small restaurant may suddenly need to source new ingredients, invest in special equipment, or change its menu just to meet customer expectations. That means more hours, higher expenses, and added stress—without any guarantee the trend will last. Meanwhile, larger competitors with more staff and stronger marketing can move faster and grab more attention.

For small businesses, it’s a constant race to stay relevant in a system designed to reward speed—not quality, consistency, or community. And over time, that means fewer local options and more power shifting to brands that can afford to chase the next trend.

Food culture as performance

Social media often highlights dishes that look “exotic,” but the recipe context—especially its cultural roots—gets erased. A good example is lumpia, a Filipino spring roll typically filled with meat or vegetables and served fried or fresh. Many viral videos label it as “Asian spring rolls” or “crispy rolls” without identifying it as a uniquely Filipino dish.

Another case is kimchi, a staple of Korean cuisine made from fermented vegetables—usually cabbage or radish—seasoned with chili, garlic, and fish sauce. In Western wellness content, it’s often rebranded as a “gut-health fermented salad,” stripping away its name and cultural identity to fit a health trend.

That’s performance cooking: it repackages traditions for clout. Dishes are renamed, simplified, and disconnected from their history. Over time, we end up with a shallow version of food culture—dishes that look familiar but have been stripped of their history, meaning, and cultural roots.

How to push back against the trap of social media food trends

Viral food trends aren’t going away, but that doesn’t mean we have to follow them blindly. Here are some things we can do:

Cook beyond the trends

Not every meal has to go viral. Follow creators who teach actual cooking skills, not just recipe aesthetics. Look for people who share the “why” behind a dish—not just the visuals. Prioritise meals that are balanced, practical, and rooted in real culinary traditions. Learn from cultures, not just trends.

Support local producers

When shopping or eating out, choose businesses that champion traditional ingredients and preparation methods. Visit your local wet market. Buy from small vendors. Order from restaurants that serve cultural dishes with care—not just what’s popular online. This helps preserve food diversity and supports those who keep it alive.

Think before you repost

Sharing a recipe or food photo? Name the dish. Credit the culture. Don’t call biryani “spiced rice,” for instance. Be part of the solution by making sure traditional foods aren’t reduced to generic hashtags.

Resist the algorithm

While you don’t have to unfollow creators who only post shock-value meals that are meant to go viral but teach nothing, you can also start following those who explain ingredients, share cultural context, or focus on home cooking and sustainability. Support people who highlight everyday food, not just food made for clicks. The more you engage with meaningful content, the more of it you’ll see—and the less power the algorithm has to drown it out.

Conclusion

Social media food trends aren't all bad—they've shown us new flavors and got more people cooking. But when we blindly follow every viral recipe, we create problems: empty store shelves, higher prices, and food culture that's all about looks. We're losing the real stories behind dishes and making it harder for small businesses to keep up.

We don't have to stop using social media for food inspiration—we just need to be smarter about it. Cook what actually feeds you, not just what gets likes. Support local shops and give credit to the cultures behind the dishes you share. When we focus on real food over viral food, everyone wins.