New Trends in Food Safety – Clean Labels

What is Food Clean Labelling?

The food industry has invested a great deal of time, money, and other resources to research, develop, and commercialize technological advancements over the course of history. Such developments are intended to provide consumers with what they desire in food products in the way of better tasting, safer, longer shelf life, and more universally available, with less cost. However, these developments in food science and technological advancements are not voluntary trends from food manufacturers, which have always been due to consumer pull on various important issues, rather than due to food manufacturer’s push. Hence, today consumer demands are based on requirements of safe, functional ingredients that protect foods from spoilage, extend shelf life, improve color and texture, deliver superior taste, lengthen freshness, and cost less. Even though food science and technology enable foods to be distributed and provide greater variety to more consumers worldwide, the functional benefits of given ingredients can contribute to a more sustainable food supply as the population of the world increases, thus contributing to global food security.

 

Today, the increasing consumer trend is to know exactly what is and what is not included in the packaged foods that are sold in the market, as consumer attention has focused more and more on the marketing claims and ingredient lists on packaged foods. Hence, consumers are looking for foods that don’t contain ingredients, which they perceive to be ‘bad’ or unknown ingredients that many struggles to pronounce due to their scientific-sounding names, where consumers want the processed foods to be as close to ‘real,’ ‘healthy’ foods as possible.

 

“Clean Label” is an evolving concept that has shifted in its meaning and significance over the years. The clean label trend has its roots in a distrust of synthetic food ingredients with chemical-sounding generic names that consumers do not understand with the fear of whether these ingredients are justifiable. Thus, many manufacturers, food services, or restaurants reformulate their specific food products to clean up their labels. In contrast, the definition of the clean label continues to evolve, now encompassing such far-reaching attributes as an ingredient’s traceability and a company’s ethics. Nevertheless, a clean label generally refers to food products that do not contain additives (E numbers), although there is no complete scientific evidence always to believe even though that additive-free products are healthier, clean label products are becoming more popular. Thus, a clean label can be mainly referred to as non-scientific, plain language on the packaging, reduced allergens and additives, and fewer, more recognizable ingredients. Further, certain manufacturers may also communicate their ethically sourced, organic, or non-GMO ingredients as part of this trend. Clean label is not about consumers eating less packaged foods but about a desire to have these same packaged foods made with more ‘wholesome’ ingredients that are closer to their natural state.

 

Food laws do not regulate the clean label, but it has been an important consideration for manufacturers and consumers, which is to be indicative of products that are such as organic, UTZ, Fair Trade, Halal, Kosher, vegetarian, vegan, and/or free from. Hence, the clean label is most strongly associated with “natural” ingredients that are easily recognizable and considered safe by consumers, whereas cleaner formulations are associated with shorter ingredient lists, as fewer ingredients appear to signify more natural and higher quality products. On the contrary, additives are often an essential part of the recipe for extending shelf life and improving the consistency and sensory qualities of food. Because many ingredients may be made from entirely naturally sourced materials but still not be considered suitable for use in clean label products. Hence, the term “natural” has no precise legal definition, and there are many non-synthetic additives on the food additives list that have been assigned under E numbers. i.e., In the EU, a product labeled “no” (colors, preservatives, etc.) must not contain any of the substances covered by EU regulation no 1333/2008.

 

Major food and beverage manufacturers have always tried to and will respond to consumer demands and requirements to maintain brand relevance. As a matter of fact, these consumer trends have created more significant influences over the composition of food products as a function of their desire for natural, non-artificial, and additive-free formulations. Hence, providing such differentiation offers a way for companies and brands to communicate benefits to consumers and provide a critical competitive advantage by perusing such trends to move away from competitors. i.e., claims and certifications such as non-GMO, gluten-free, and Rainforest Alliance Certified have increasing importance for products, whereas “clean label” shows that it is moving from a trend to a rule.

 

In addition, a large portion of consumers has a negative view of functional ingredients due to the limited or not granted access to the relevant information that leads to a less complete understanding of their benefits and unique values. Such information is crucial for consumers to have a balanced viewpoint to guide their decision-making, which can be a source of frustration to food scientists and product developers who wish for the perfect world to be driven by science-based rational thinking. Hence, many food trade associations have recognized that the industry must do a better job of providing and communicating balanced information to consumers, where the industry has an obligation to pursue this goal rather than tacitly acquiescing to one side of the story to dominate the dialogue.

 

As “Clean Label” is not a government-regulated term, there are a few different viewpoints that manufacturers can use to satisfy these consumer demands. The two major common methods are to have “free-from” statements and shorter ingredient lists, where “Free-from” statements can include “trans-fat free,” “gluten-free,” or “no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.”  Shorter ingredient lists are achieved by reformulating products to make them closer to a ‘home-made’ style.

 

Another recognized shift in processed food products is that companies are exchanging current ingredients that have scientific-sounding names with more recognizable naturally derived ingredients. I.e., there has been a great demand in the past few years for natural food sweeteners, colorings, and flavorings to be sourced from natural ingredients, rather than being artificially made, where some packaged foods are now being made with dyes such as beets, turmeric, and paprika; sweeteners such as maple syrup and stevia; and flavors such as natural vanilla flavor instead of artificial vanilla flavor, in response to such demands. Some manufacturers in unnatural food categories, such as soft drinks, have taken the initiative to take a clean label approach by using natural sweeteners and colors. The interchange can really impact the marketing approach to promote using recognized food materials for color, flavor, and sweetness, rather than additives that can be considered ingredients rather than additives, thus providing a clean label. Nonetheless, many countries have been successfully investing in research to source natural ingredients to replace some synthetic ingredients that have been used in packaged foods for years. Although the clean label approach provides an improvement to the ingredients used in processed foods, consumers should still remember to limit their intake of these foods because they are likely still high in fat, sugar, and salt. 

 

The Disadvantages

However, the transformation to simpler, non-chemical-sounding ingredient lists are creating a significant challenge for the food industry to respond to the shift in consumer trends and meet their evolving wants and needs. Thus, the challenge of removing these perceived “undesirable” functional ingredients falls on product developers and food-scientist support teams of both consumer product companies and ingredient suppliers that can result in real or potential trade-offs of which consumers may not be fully aware. Whether or not one believes consumers are being unduly influenced to view so-called artificial colors, flavors, and additives as not good for them, and even when the science does not support this, the reality is that consumers should and do have free choice to avoid them regardless of the reason. Consequently, food and beverage companies must respond to their consumer base to stay relevant in the marketplace.

 

Hence, removing these functional ingredients and additives from foods can have drawbacks as to the limited choices available, where the food industry is doing the best job feasible to find suitable substitutes or alternate formulations that maintain the organoleptic properties, safety, shelf life, and cost of clean-label alternatives. Thus, there is a practical limit as to what can be achieved, and the consumer will need to accept some trade-offs when food safety and regulatory compliance cannot be sacrificed in the process. I.e., preservatives traditionally used in sauce manufacturing and condiments, which are FDA-approved safe substances added to food to inhibit microbial growth or retard deterioration. A possible clean label goal would be to remove preservatives where technically feasible without compromising food safety or product quality. The most apparent solutions would be a requirement to keep the product refrigerated or to replace the artificial preservatives with natural materials. The former would result in an inconvenience, and both would result in increased product cost.

 

Another downside of clean label claims is that they could increase litigation risks for manufacturers. Because “natural” and “healthy,” “clean label” has no legal definition and is therefore open to the interpretation of the consumer. Yet, certain natural flavors contain synthetic non-flavor ingredients, such as artificial preservatives, colors, and emulsifiers. And some natural ingredients are produced by fermentation processes using genetically modified organisms. If a “reasonable consumer” could be misled by such clean label claims, then the manufacturer may be hit with costly and damaging lawsuits.

 

On the other hand, many food formulators worry that the clean label movement unfairly demonizes safe and legal ingredients that have been used in foods for decades with no evidence of adverse health effects. Synthetic food additives have been rationally designed and improved over the years to be highly efficient at what they do, whether it be preservation, emulsification, or flavoring. Natural alternatives, if they exist, are typically less efficient and more costly. The irony of the clean label movement may be that its proponents wish to turn back the clock to great-grandmother’s days when great-grandma might have been happy to have access to time-saving, effective, safe, and inexpensive ingredients that kept her food fresh longer.

 

References

https://www.qualityassurancemag.com/article/clean-label-trade-offs/

https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2018/04/04/The-dark-side-to-clean-labels-Fear-of-difficult-to-pronounce-ingredients-could-threaten-safety-stability

https://cleanlabelproject.org/

Clean label: the next generation - AOCS. https://www.aocs.org/stay-informed/inform-magazine/featured-articles/clean-label-the-next-generation-september-2017?SSO=True

Kajzer, M.; Diowksz, A.,The Clean Label Concept: Novel Approaches in Gluten-Free Breadmaking. Appl. Sci. 2021, 11, 6129. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11136129

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319429985_Clean_label_The_next_generation/link/5b1aa5480f7e9b68b429d4bf/download