Market Trend Report on Clean LabelingThe Implications of “Clean” on Health and Safety

Kantha Shelke, Ph.D.@kantha

DisclosuresDISCLOSURES

Not affiliated with nor have any vested interest in any of the ingredients or companies mentioned in this presentation.

No confidential or proprietary information included

Prime Label ConferenceGrand Hyatt HotelWashington, DC

“The greatest obstacle

to discovery is not

ignorance, it is the

illusion of knowledge.”

Daniel Boorstin

Source: Mark Menjivar | You Are What You Eat

•Changing food composition• Altering portion size• Formulating to the label

• Altering the delivery mode• Formulating for simplicity

HOW WE EAT IS CHANGING

The Clean Label “Bannedwagon”

• Unprecedented interest in foods and ingredients that “do no harm”.

• Unparalleled focus on labels, ingredients, and production methods.

• Overwhelming lack of understanding of food science and nutrition.

• “Organic”, “natural”, “vegan”, “local”, “raw”, “minimally processed”, “artificial-free”, “no unfamiliar names”, “preservative-free”, “GMO free” believed to be safer and better-for-you.

• Food scares and ignorant vilification/avoidance of foods & ingredients.

• Simple and minimal equated with wholesomeness.

Clean Label—the biggest trend in processed foods today—is an exploitation of the confusion of what “natural” and “artificial” actually mean

Source: chemicalsafetyfacts.org

How We Learn About Foods

Trend: Few ingredients

Very few ingredients may be ideal for a recipe, but in a manufactured food?

Fact: The number of ingredients a food contains is in no way related to its chemical composition, its safety, or its nutritional value.

Is Clean Simple?

Trends:

• “If you can’t say it, don’t eat it.”

• Avoid foods with more than five ingredients on the label.

• Chemo-phobia and the avoidance of “carrageenan”, “maltodextrin”, “natural flavors”, “preservatives”, or anything that sounds “foreign”.

• Lack of cogency among retailers and their “Clean Label” programs.

• Belief that if it exists in nature, it must be safe and good for you.

“What is clean today, might not be so tomorrow.”

The Paradox of “Clean Label” Alternatives

Organic Corn Meal, Expeller-Pressed Sunflower Oil, Whey, Cheddar Cheese (Cultured Milk, Salt, Enzymes), Maltodextrin, Sea Salt, Natural Flavors, Disodium Phosphate, Organic Sour Cream (Cultured Organic Skim Milk, Organic Cream, Cornstarch, Nonfat Dry Milk (Acidophilus And Bifidus Cultures Added]), Torula ...

Enriched Corn Meal (Corn Meal, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin and Folic Acid), Vegetable Oil (Sunflower, Corn and/or Canola Oil), White Cheddar Seasoning (Whey, Cheddar Cheese [Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes], Canola Oil, Artificial Color, Maltodextrin [Made from Corn], Salt, Whey

The Un-processing of Processed Foods

“Label Politics”

Source: Arla Cream Cheese

The Ignorant Vilification of Ingredients

Removal of safe and nutritious ingredients just because people are scared is far from a moral victory.

Food making is not for the faint of heart.

Making food requires care, consideration, conviction, and the clarity to educate the uninformed.

Beyond Ingredients

Trend: Clean label for meat and poultry processors has gone from “cupboard friendly” to “minimally processed” to “shorter ingredient statements” and now on to “foods with a sustainable supply chain story”.

People search for animal welfare claims, such as grass-fed, free-range and cage-free, on meat and poultry packages.

Fact: Regardless of consumers’ evolving demands, all meat and poultry must align with federal regulations, which identify the ingredients that may be used in particular products.

https://goo.gl/Uzop7R

Meat producers will continue to bet on an animal-free

future. Like Tyson, we could see other meat incumbents

position themselves more broadly as protein companies

instead of just meat producers.

To Have Our Chickens and Be Able To Eat Them Too

https://goo.gl/Uzop7R

Trend: Pedigree & Lifting of the Secrecy Veil

What Do Consumers Really Know?65 percent of Americans interested in food ingredients are urging food manufacturers to more carefully pick and choose product ingredients, reports Packaged Facts. (www.packagedfacts.com)

71% of consumers say it's important that food manufacturers avoid inhumane treatment of animals.(Hartman Group's 2017 Sustainability Report)

Enjoy Life Foods, in April, became the first U.S. food company to receive Palm Oil Free Certification for its newest product launches.

General Mills says it's making Annie's snacks using organic ingredients from regenerative farms in Montana and picturing the farmers on Annie's packaging.

‘Food is never just about what we put in our mouths’

What’s More Sustainable?

Using acres of land, water and energy

to grow plants that produce

minuscule quantities of natural

flavors, sweeteners or phytonutrients?

OR

Making them via fermentation

processes using baker’s yeast that’s

been engineered to produce them

1000x more efficiently?

“Yanni” or “Laurel”?

The Color Conundrum

Silly Rabbit!

The path to hell is paved with the

best of intentions…

…the road to

good intentions

is paved with

plaintiff lawyers

Regulatory Implications

• Mind regulations including state and local regulations.

• Regulatory affairs must check all ingredient claims—label and website—to ensure compliance and no violations. Identify potential plaintiff claims early and check often.

• Points of action for suppliers:

The structure of the ingredient list

The names of the ingredients on the list

The extent of processing of the ingredients

How ‘natural’ and ‘clean’ are they!!!

• Certification and documentation: Mind the associated costs and factor in early in the negotiation.

• Onsite inspections (and the charge) for third-party certification agencies to ‘inspect’ and ‘verify’ facilities for compliance. Clarify who pays for what.

• Note differences in nomenclature and implications.

• Watch the news. Learn through the press and through social media.

Trend: Restrictive Diets

art: Graffiti Exhibition 2013

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

Restrictive diets are not for everyone. Gluten-free/ low carb could be risky for pregnant women, babies, and young girls. Paleo is NOT for infants and kids.

May lack nutrients including B vitamins, iron, calcium, vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, copper, folate, fiber, protein...

Refined starches affect blood sugar levels & triglycerides

Shelf-life and inflammation

Affordability and availability

KEY INSIGHTS

Ethical considerations of the collective consequences of our food choices (rather than individual worries) will increasingly shape Clean Label.

Upcoming regulations (labeling, FSMA) will continue to pressure reformulation and the “cleaning up” of labels.

Trust and transparency will trump “Clean Label” claims.

If the food industry educates its audience, people will select artificial on purpose for certain ingredients to avoid the untenable environmental footprint of the “natural” alternative.

The future is a matter of choice, not chance.