Food and beverage manufacturers the world over are innovating in new clean label solutions across every category within the industry. This is to keep pace with the rising demand from health-conscious consumers looking for food that is as close to nature as possible. Staying ahead of the clean label curve is of paramount importance, as this platform truly establishes itself as a mainstay of the food and beverage industry. Moreover, it continues to evolve, encapsulating more characteristics over time.

Whether it be sugar, sodium, fat or acrylamide reduction, offering plant-based alternatives and focusing on sustainability or ethical issues is key. Innovators must strike a balance between following market trends while creating functional solutions without compromising on taste and quality. The perception of the end-user, the consumer, is what matters most, according to most suppliers.

The question of clean label’s evolution can be answered, in part, by consumers’ continued desire for a healthier lifestyle. Understandable ingredient lists are still important for consumers, but now they seek products that go beyond just natural ingredients without the “nasties.” Promoting good health, better control of blood sugar, plant-based options and food that comes from sustainable sources are just some of the key trends dominating the food space.

 Thomas Schmidt, Marketing Director at Beneo“Manufacturers are taking clean label new product reformulation further than ever before. Thanks to developments in functional ingredients, the Beneo Technology Center has been working with customers on a wide range of recipe concepts, including everything from cream cheese, bakery creams, ice creams and tomato-based sauces, through to spoonable dressings and ketchup,” Thomas Schmidt, Marketing Director at Beneo, tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

Clean label is a term that the food industry itself has used for many years, however consumer demand for “everything from nature” continues to expand and shape product reformulation and ingredient lists.

With no standard global definition, consumer perceptions have been shaping what the food and drink industry considers to be “clean label.” And with such a pull from the end-user for manufacturers to embrace this wider remit, the products that can deliver health benefits, sustainably, will be in a strong competitive position.

Plant-based innovation and ethical and sustainable lifestyles
The trend towards veganism and the progression in plant-based ready meals innovation in Europe continues to gather pace, alongside the growing movement towards more ethical and sustainable lifestyles. Consumers are increasingly demanding clean label products as they search for trust and transparency. Sustainability and ethics are becoming key pillars of trust under the clean label umbrella. This means that clean label status extends throughout the supply chain and many eating occasions. Ultimately, consumers want food that tastes good and is good for the planet, according to Kerry.

A growing awareness of health also means a higher demand for healthy ready meals. Reducing fat, salt and calories will remain important for the ready meals sector, according to Noreen Sheehan, Savory End-Use Market Director, Kerry Europe & Russia.

“The challenge is maintaining integrity and freshness, while offering great taste and shelf-stability,” she tells FoodIngredientsFirst. “Whenever you take something out such as fat, salt or meat, you have to replac not just the functionality of those ingredients but the flavor and texture. Plant-based is a real challenge because of the added complexity and cost of delivering great authentic taste and texture to plant proteins and maintaining a clean label,” she stresses.

Overcoming technical challenges 
Adding a clean label texturizer, while reducing fat and/or high glycemic carbohydrates and maintaining taste and texture is not easy, with many technical challenges to be overcome. However, a range of functional ingredients has been proving their worth in even the most difficult clean label applications, Schmidt notes.

Beneo’s inulin and oligofructose are natural, non-GMO, clean label prebiotic fibers that are derived from chicory root via a gentle hot water extraction method, unlike some other fibers that are artificially or chemically made. They are two of three proven prebiotics and the only plant-based prebiotics, he says.

Beneo’s chicory root fibers improve digestive health and inner well-being by supporting normal bowel regularity and a healthy gut microbiota by increasing beneficial bacteria. Beneo’s prebiotics are also ideal for replacing fat or sugar in applications such as dairy, bakery and cereals. “They deliver a similar mouthfeel, texture and taste,” Schmidt adds.

Meanwhile, Beneo’s new grade of clean label functional native rice starch, Remypure S52, is aimed towards manufacturers looking to create cleaner label sauces and dressings that need to undergo severe processing conditions. Remypure S52 has a high tolerance to these conditions, overcoming low pH, high temperature and high shear, Schmidt explains.

“Due to Beneo’s unique thermal inhibition process, the functional properties of Remypure rice starches are obtained without using chemicals. Remypure S52’s performance level is comparable, or superior, to modified food starches, due to its reduced granule breakdown during processing and it delivers results which are difficult to obtain with a traditional native rice starch,” Schmidt comments.

Organic salts, including propionates and acetates 
Speaking with FoodIngredientsFirst, Product & Innovation Manager at Niacet, Eelco Heintz believes that clean label is actually an ambivalent concept. Consumers want clarity about what they are eating but cleaning up the label doesn’t always help with this, he says.

Producer of dry organic salts, including propionates and acetates and their clean label alternatives based on naturally fermented vinegar, Niacet has two fully-automated manufacturing sites (in the US and the Netherlands). The company offers high-quality products in a broad range of applications for food preservation, flavoring, antibiotic formulation and so on. Niacet’s Provian is for food safety and shelf life extension while its new natural flavor, Progusta NDV, is designed to boost flavor in processed meat products, wher sodium is reduced.

Refrigerated processed ready-to-eat foods and meat need additives to stay safe over the shelf-life period, Heintz notes and Niacet is the world’s largest producer of dry preservatives based on organic acids with both chemical and clean label preservatives in its portfolio under the Provian name.

“Consumers of convenient foods need and will finally accept E-numbers, since that is the way to show what food exactly contains, without hidden ingredients. We are lucky that we work with acetic acid and acetates, with a clear natural equivalent which is vinegar, so there no hidden ingredients in this case,” Heintz explains.

“We have a unique version (of vinegar) which is a dust free solid, without any sodium and highly-concentrated, which makes it very effective and contributes to low sodium foods.”

“Additives are simply necessary to keep refrigerated, ready-to-eat foods safe for consumption. There will always be a part of the consumer that will go for ‘natural’ alternatives for convenient food. There is a link with people who prefer all-natural convenient food and people who prefer homeopathy above synthetic medicine,” Heintz comments.

Conclusion
To date, regulatory authorities have not provided regulation or guidance regarding what clean label means. However, as consumers continue to expect more, this could change. However, as the myriad of clean label concepts continues to grow, what that might look like is quite difficult to imagine.