Clean Label Conference

Third Wave Bioactives was a recent sponsor of the 5th annual Clean Label Conference outside of Chicago, IL which was put on by the Global Food Forums.  It was well attended and provided good collaboration among food manufacturers and ingredient suppliers all looking to create or help provide clean label solutions. 

The conference started with a talk by Alan Rownan, a Research Analyst with Euromoniter International, on Increasing Consumer Confidence and Driving Value Through Clean Label Claims Globally. Alan addressed the term “clean label” and that it does not have a true definition, however, there is a consistency of what consumers are looking for: a short ingredient list, recognizable ingredients, an absence of artificial and chemical ingredients, and an absence of unnecessary ingredients.  Alan’s talk ended with the trend of food companies moving away from “no artificial” to “all natural”, however, this broader claim was addressed in the talk given by Chip English, a partner with Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP, who spoke about Emerging Clean Label Claims: Regulations & Liabilities.

Chip’s experience of food labeling claims found that the terms “100%”, “Pure”, and “All” will be looked at more closely as they can bring false or misleading claims on food products.  Chip also addressed that some food companies have adopted the term “natural” on their product labels to market to consumers looking for clean labels.  The FDA, however, is still working on the definition of what a “natural” ingredient is and is also in the process of redefining the “healthy” claim for food labeling.  Consumers should be aware that many words on a food label are for marketing purposes and not necessarily for nutritional claims, so they should check the ingredient list and nutritional facts to make informed purchases.  For more information on how the FDA is defining the term “natural” you can visit their website.

To help provide insight into tools for maintaining high quality and safe products throughout shelf-life using “clean” alternatives, Dr. Matthew Taylor, an Associate Professor at Texas A&M, spoke of Emerging Research to Practical Approaches on Natural Antimicrobial Use.  The FDA classifies food antimicrobials as preservatives and they fall into two main categories: traditional which are synthetic and regulatory approved, and natural which are plant and microbial derived. The natural antimicrobials are desirable for a clean label; however, their effectiveness is best described as static, in which they help inhibit the microorganisms present in food from causing spoilage, but they do not have cidal activity, or kill the microorganisms present.  There is much work being done in this area to bridge the gap between traditional and natural antimicrobials.

Other speakers focused on the use of natural sweeteners and flavorings as well as naturally-derived antioxidants and new product offerings to bring cleaner label alternatives and enhance shelf-life.  Overall, we brought home knowledge of what consumers are looking for, how the FDA is handling these constant labeling changes, and the challenges that food manufacturers are facing on creating healthy and shelf-stable food products that offer clear and clean labeling for their consumers.

Clean Label Trends

There is no standard definition of Clean Label (much like natural but at an earlier stage) but in short, you can think of Clean Label foods as minimally processed, containing no artificial colors, flavors, preservatives or anything else consumers cannot pronounce or don’t understand why it's in their food. A Clean Label food has a relatively short ingredient list (somewhere between 7-10 seems to be a reasonable cutoff). Other taboos for Clean Label often include GMOs, antibiotics, and hormones. 

Although there is general agreement that Clean Label is real and not going away soon, there is little consensus on what to do about it. There is the “Scientist” view that believes consumers need to use their critical thinking skills and make better scientific judgements when making their food purchases.  Prepare in advance by reading up on the latest science about what’s safe and nutritious, keeping in mind that scientific consensus is developed over many years of scientific study. Somehow, this doesn't seem likely in the world of multi-tasking people consuming information 140 characters at a time, but in the processed food industry, you can imagine this school of thought has supporters.

Another view is that the the industry should start renaming ingredients on the labels, changing from scientific names to fanciful names that won’t frighten consumers.  For example, one could relabel Xanthan Gum to a Natural Thickening Ingredient.  This approach may have some merit but you can imagine if taken to the extreme, you might end up with relabeling such as:

“Enriched Wheat Flour, Corn Syrup, Baking Soda, Monocalcium Phosphate, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Cocoa processed with Alkali, Corn Starch, Modified Corn Starch, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil,Propylene Glycol, Mono and Diesters of Fatty Acids, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Cellulose Gum, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Benzoate Red 40, and Artificial Flavor”
becomes
“Wheat Flour, Sugar, and ingredients for Leavening, Thickening, Coloring, Preserving and Flavoring"

This approach may satisfy some consumer’s desire for simpler food labels, but the lack of transparency may lead to further lack of trust when some consumers realize what is actually in their cake mix.

The takeaway from industry discussions is that consumer opinion is very individualized and evolving.  As marketers, we like to segment these opinions into groups sharing common beliefs, but the segments are far from homogeneous at this stage. Utilizing natural high quality ingredients and minimal processing, bioVONTAGE ingredients harness the power of natural fermentation to help you maintain the flavor and quliatity of your foods, giving you the options you need to compete in the evolving clean label market.