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Research and Development: Cleaner Eating for the Mobile Consumer By Donna Berry he clean-eating movement is all about foods free of ingredients that today's consumers find objectionable. It's about simple formulations made from wholesome ingredients and void of chemical-sounding additives that are hard to pronounce. T "What we eat and drink each year might not change as quickly as the mobile phones we carry in our pockets, but food and beverage marketers should not take this as a license to rest on their laurels," according to Darren Seifer, food and beverage industry analyst, The NPD Group Inc., Port Washington, NY. "Change has been brewing for decades. "In the 1980s and through much of the 1990s, consumers largely tried to avoid certain substances, like fats or cholesterol, as they were thought to be harmful," Seifer says. "Around the turn of this century, consumers became more concerned with getting more 'good' substances, like whole grains or omega-3s, in their diets. Now, in addition to eating more better-for-you foods, new priorities are coming into focus for consumers, like eating foods in their pure form. These new habits will be frontand-center in 2016." According to NPD Group data, more than 30 percent of consumers say they are cautious about foods with preservatives, compared to 24 percent just 10 years ago. The trend for additives is following the same progression. What's a food additive? There are basically two categories of ingredients, those the US Food and Drug Administration approves as an additive and those Generally Recognized as Safe 14 * MARCH 2016 * (GRAS). The latter is a designation that has either been appointed by FDA to commonly used food ingredients, such as flour, sugar, salt, or a company can self-affirm an ingredient as GRAS by making available scientific data and information deeming the ingredient as safe for its intended use. GRAS or approved additives can improve the integrity, safety and even nutritional quality of foods. For example, we expect salad dressings to stay mixed once they have been shaken. Emulsifiers such as lecithin from soybeans maintain mixture and improve texture in dressings and other foods. Food gums, a term used to describe additives that function as stabilizers, texturizers and thickeners, are commonly used in cultured dairy products such as sour cream and yogurt, where smoothness is desired. In breads, food gums increase volume and impart fine-grain quality. Though these additives play a crucial role in manufactured foods, today's clean-eating consumer has concerns with many of them. When they see a long, unfamiliar name, they often think the additive is a complex chemical- and dangerous-compound. Uninformed consumers might find ascorbic acid offensive, which is the chemical name for vitamin C. "Marketers would be wise to examine their ingredient labels to understand whether their key consumer targets might find anything objectionable based on media coverage or even simply by how pronounceable an ingredient is to the average consumer," Seifer says. Some ingredients can be listed by more familiar names. For example, egg commissary INSIDER white is much more consumer friendly than albumen. Free-from labeling is also part of the clean-eating movement. According to market research publisher Packaged Facts, Rockville, Maryland, health and wellness in the current vernacular is defined by what a product doesn't have, such as artificial ingredients or preservatives, more than by what is in it, according to David Sprinkle, research director. Linda Gilbert, founder and CEO, EcoFocus Worldwide LLC, Manheim, Pennsylvania, agreed. "No longer satisfied with ingredient labels that tell us what our foods and beverages are made with, shoppers are seeking products with shorter ingredient legends and more information about where those ingredients come from," she says. "Shoppers are telling us that simpler really may be better when it comes to our health and the health of our planet." Free-from additives Consumers often perceive hand-prepared and packaged sandwiches, salads, wraps and other meals as being fresher, simpler, less processed and even homemade. The truth is, many of these foods are made with commercially prepared food components that contain the same ingredients one would find in packaged foods sold in the supermarket. But like at retail, there are options. Commissary operators assembling meals for clean-eating consumers need to know the ingredients to avoid and the clean-label ingredients that can assist with ensuring product integrity and safety through shelf life. Formulating clean-label foods most often refers to eliminating chemicalsounding additives or any ingredient recognized as being artificial, most notably certain colors, flavors, preservatives and sweeteners. Most ingredients with a name that implies extra processing are also considered unclean, such as modified corn starch. The concept of wholesome complements this definition of clean label.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of instore - March 2016

instore - March 2016
Editor's Note - Going Green
Table of Contents
News - On Our Radar
Cover Story - Efficient Equipment
Commissary Insider - Insight Insider: Hill Country Bakery builds a brand name
Food Safety: Monitoring cross-contamination
Equipment: Reducing Waste
Product Category Spotlight: Retailing Fresh Fruits
Technology: Inventory Tools
Research and Development: Cleaner Eating for the Mobile Consumer
Product Knowledge - Seasonal Salads
Merchandising - Summer Picnics
Specialty Insights - Imported Cheese
Equipment & Packaging - Bakery Packaging
Promotions - Ads on the Go
Product Trends
Product Showcase

instore - March 2016