Editor’s note: This story highlights takeaways from an Oct. 28 Food Dive event that explores how CPG food brands can innovate for health and wellness. Register here to watch the replay on demand.
As concerns over ultraprocessed foods mount, consumers are increasingly seeking “clean label” foods. For food makers, however, addressing this need isn’t so cut and dry.
Part of the challenge arises from a lack of clear definitions for terms like “clean label” and “ultraprocessed,” causing consumers to sometimes conflate the two. Clean label can mean everything from short ingredient lists to ensuring a product does not contain any ingredients perceived as artificial.
For food companies, that can present a challenge in understanding whether to focus their formulation efforts on either the quantity or quality of ingredients.
Research from Innova Market Insights shows that consumers relate clean labels to natural ingredients, not necessarily processing methods, according to Mimi Bonnett, senior director of Insights for Innova Market Insights. She also said terms like no artificial colors, flavors and preservatives indicate a clean label to consumers.
“Fundamentally [consumers] are equating clean label with nothing that they don't recognize,” Bonnett said in a virtual event with Food Dive. “So things that they can easily pronounce or actually understand, or maybe even have in their pantry themselves. [They’re] not necessarily looking for something specific in short, but things that they don't have to be worried about.”
However, as more companies look to adopt claims like "nonultraprocessed," the role of clean label is becoming murky. Bonnett thinks that consumers measure things like nonultraprocessed and clean label in the same way, even though they’re very different.
“‘Processed’ is in the term, but it's not about the process at all,” Bonnett said. “In fact, consumers don't really understand the processes that foods go through, so they're really using those same ingredients to drive that decision.”
Innova’s research found that 1 in 5 consumers who avoid ultraprocessed food are eschewing certain ingredients, not necessarily processes. Consumers are more certain about what they do not want than what they want, Bonnett said.
There's also a “murkiness” in consumer understanding of where food comes from, Bonnett said. Because of this, the more clarity food companies can add about ingredients the better, whether a product is clean label or not.
The reformulation challenge
Creating a clean label isn't as simple as paring down ingredient lists, Jay Bunte, senior director for Ingredion's global product portfolio corn and clean label texture solutions, said during the event.
“It's not as simple as just taking things out,” Bunte said. “Unfortunately, if that were the case, a lot of things would taste a lot worse, and the eating experience would suffer. So every ingredient that is on a label is there for a purpose, whether that's stability or texture or shelf life, or process tolerance.”
Ingredients such as titanium dioxide, datum or monodisaccharide look intimidating but bring an important function to foods. Replacing these ingredients with more natural options that provide the same function can be difficult and require "reliable supply chains," Bunte said.
While Bunte said "fewer ingredients certainly can be a useful signal of simplicity," he added that ingredient count alone is "a poor measure of how clean a food is," noting that the type of ingredient matters more.
When formulating for a cleaner label, companies also need to ensure that the resulting product still tastes the way consumers expect. Texture is especially key in clean label formulations, because that is often the first thing to break, making it the first thing a consumer would notice, Bunte said.
Taste is becoming even more important in the age of GLP-1s as consumers on these medications seek out nutrient-dense foods with minimal processing. Companies have to balance nutrient needs, clean ingredients and taste if they want to stand out.
“When you think about these products that are super protein dense and fiber dense, they become really hard to formulate with,” Bunte said. “Because they can be gritty or chalky or dense. These are great examples where some of our clean label texture solutions can really deliver that creamy or indulgent experience in a much more smaller, nutrient-dense portion size.”
Affordability is also a key factor for consumers and companies, and formulating a clean label product doesn't have to automatically carry a higher price tag. Bunte gave an example where a customer was able to use a clean label texturizer in yogurt that allowed them to decrease reliance on expensive dairy fat, lowering the overall cost of reformulation.
“What's really important is not just the ingredient cost, as it's only part of the equation,” Bunte said. “It's really important to be laser focused really on cost and use.”
