Packaging, Processing Must Support 'Clean-Label' Concept

By John Kalkowski, editor in chief, Food Online

Around the food industry, the latest buzzwords seem to be “clean labels.” If you are unsure what the exact meaning is, you’re not alone. There is no standard definition. Still, clean label is a phrase we are likely to hear about for a long time, and the processing and packaging ramifications of clean labels are growing.

Basically, the term clean labels refers to the wholesomeness of a food product, the “naturalness” of its ingredients, and the absence of unrecognizable chemical names or processes. In other words, consumers want transparent descriptions of what goes into the food they are buying, and they want to make sure it’s all healthy.

Lynn Dornblaser, Mintel’s director of innovation and insights at market intelligence agency Mintel, explains that while clean labels represent a consumer desire, the term has been created by the food industry. Consumers are telling the industry they want natural and fresh products; they’re just having a hard time putting into words. I have yet to hear a single shopper say he or she is looking for a clean label as they peruse the grocery store aisles.

Consumers Choosing Foods More Carefully

According to a report titled “Nutritional Labeling and Clean Labels in the U.S.: Future of Food Retailing,” 67 percent of consumers prefer groceries with fewer and simpler ingredients and about the same number are considering nutritional contents and health benefits when buying foods and beverages. That same study says consumers – especially millennials − are becoming more vocal about the ingredients they want and don’t want in their foods and beverages.

The retail impact is obvious. Have you noticed the emphasis on “fresh” food products around the perimeter of grocery stores? Packaged food in cartons, canisters, bottles, and cans are clustered in the middle aisles of most stories.

This is creating a mounting challenge for CPGs. In a recent Fortune magazine article, Credit Suisse analyst Robert Moskow says that the top 25 U.S. food and beverage companies have lost an equivalent of $18 billion in market share since 2009. Produce, meats, dairy, and juices – all considered fresh products – have gained a coveted position in the store. However, CPGs are responding; clean labels are one way CPGs are struggling to maintain their relevancy.

Reformulating Helps Clean Labels

The most obvious result is that many CPGs are reformulating to produce cleaner labels. Over the past year, many companies have announced changes to their products, removing artificial colors and preservatives, stopping the use of antibiotics, and eliminating the use of genetically modified organisms.

Dornblaser points to one of the juice drinks from innocent in the U.K. Its ingredient list reads: “One half banana, six strawberries and a wedge of lemon.” No chemicals, no preservatives.

While reformulating the foods by changing the sweeteners, flavors, and colors seems an obvious choice, CPGs also need to consider ways they can alter their processing and packaging methods to support the concept of clean labeling.

For instance, many preservatives currently in use have long, polysyllabic names that an undergraduate chemistry student might not recognize. A company might be able to adopt high-pressure processing, which could mean preservatives such as nitrates and nitrites can be eliminated from the processing.

Sometimes an ingredient just can’t be removed from a process. In these instances, food manufacturers might just need to better explain why these ingredients are used. Dornblaser points to one company’s explanation of lecithin, which it says is “made from soy and is used to hold the ingredients together.”

The processing also can help the food retain its quality and appearance. One example is fish. In the two to three days it takes for fish to be shipped from the boats to the fish market shelves of a grocery store, they can become dried out and the eyes gain a dull cast. Not exactly appealing. Frozen fish may actually be fresher than those “fresh” fish displayed on ice in the store.

Packaging Can Enhance Food Freshness

Packaging also can play a major role in promoting the concept of clean labelling. Many companies tout the benefits of reformulations on the outside of their packaging. The choice of packaging type also can be key to advancing the idea of cleaner labels. For example, precut salads-in-a-bag is perceived by many consumers as wholesome and clean.

Many sources claim that 40 percent of the food produced is wasted, with much of that waste occurring throughout the long supply chains. It is well-known that appropriate packaging helps prevent much of that waste. Techniques such as nitrogen flushing may not sound very wholesome to consumers, but can play a key role in keeping foods fresh.

So, if the concept of clean labels is here to stay, food manufacturers need to get out in front of the issue and explain to consumers what they are doing about it. Reformulating the foods and beverages is the key issue to more transparency and cleaner ingredient statements, but the process and the package also must support these efforts.