The low-carb diet, so hot a year ago, has been declared so yesterday in recent weeks, with companies ranging from American Italian Pasta to GNC Corp. to Dean Foods recently bemoaning recently that sales of their low-carb offerings have been underweight.

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So it was with some note that Del Monte Foods Co. chose yesterday to roll out a new low-carb product, a Carb Clever line of canned fruit packed in water and sweetened with Splenda.

Either the San Francisco food company is way behind the curve or it isn't worried about reports of the diet craze's impending demise. Certainly, Del Monte officials don't seem concerned about looking, well, careful.

"Some companies are market leaders, some are fast followers, and some are even slower," joked Marilyn Raymond, a principal with NewProductWorks consulting group in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The low-carb phenomenon has whipped through the food and health supplements industry in the past year with enough force to persuade numerous companies to revamp and repackage products. Total carb-branded activity from beer to frozen dinners and ice cream grew an estimated $800 million in annual sales through mid-June, according to Information Resources Inc.

The maker of Splenda, the alternative sweetener favored by numerous manufacturers, introduced a half Splenda/half sugar formula to help bakers cut the carbs while maintaining the advantages of sugar. The company started the year claiming 3,500 food brand products included its product, and that figure had climbed to 4,000 by fall.

Even as the trend was on the upswing, however, there were doubts about how long it would last. H.J. Heinz Co. Chairman Bill Johnson repeatedly expressed reservations that consumers would stick with it.

In August, research firm Information Resources reported its stores sales trend did not support contentions that carb-cutting was on the decline, but, as fall arrived, research organization NPD Group saw the first dip in the number of people on a low-carb diet.

From a peak of 9 percent in January, the levels had held steady between 6 percent and 7 percent most of the year. In September, it dipped below 5 percent.

That's also when interest began tapering off a bit in the weekly low-carb buffet at F. Tambellini's Seventh Street Ristorante. "It has faded, I must say," said co-owner Charlie Pelligrini.

So how can Del Monte justify the timing for its first carb-targeted product?

Easily, said company spokeswoman Melissa Murphy. Even if the Atkins and South Beach diet books no longer top the best seller lists, the company believes a core group of customers will continue to be health conscious and happy to find no-sugar options.

Del Monte developed the Carb Clever line, which promises 50 percent to 70 percent fewer carbs than regular canned fruit, because customers asked for it, Murphy said. People trying to follow the low-carb diet rules said they missed having fruit. "We see low-carb as another sub-segment, like low-fat, that will have appeal for a long time to come," she said.

At Tambellini's restaurant, Pelligrini estimates that about 10 percent of his customers still ask for menu items to be prepared in low-carb fashion. That might mean eliminating the pasta, using less flour or skipping the bread.

New products consultant Redmond says any items coming out now would probably have been researched back when the trends were stronger. Still, with a U.S. population that still dreads getting on the scales and with the growing issue of diabetes, there may be a market for the new canned fruit.

Redmond recently attended a natural products expo, where she was surprised to find numerous low-carb introductions. "It's not as if Del Monte's going to be by themselves at the tail end of the wave."