Culinology - June 2020 - 12

CLEAN label

In 2018, the company introduced two
limited-edition Annie's branded products
featuring ingredients grown using
regenerative farming practices. Annie's elbow
pasta, bunny-shaped cheddar crackers and
baked graham snacks were made using
organic ingredients from regenerative farms
in Montana.
Patagonia Provisions, a business unit
of Patagonia, Inc., Ventura, Calif., also has
embraced regenerative agriculture as a point
of differentiation for some of the products
it sells. Products sold by the company
produced using regenerative farming include
a regenerative organic chili mango snack and
an organic cacao and mango bar.

Soil health and the
sustainable sourcing
of food ingredients
are becoming more
important to some
consumers.
©mintra - stock.adobe.com

12 |

Culinology | JUNE 2020

"The intersection of sustainability and
clean label varies by product category," Dr.
Cheatham said. "There has been a lot of
news about how meat and dairy production
affect the environment. But other products
have more leeway.
"Meat alternatives are a good example.
They may use protein isolates and
bioengineered heme, ingredients most
consumers may not think of as clean, but
consumers may accept the tradeoff if they

think the product is more sustainable and
reduces the agricultural load."
Natalya Bright, global market research
manager for Tate & Lyle, which has its US
offices in Chicago, said the definition of clean
label is subjective for consumers and some
product attributes are more important in
some categories than others.
"From our own proprietary research
conducted in January 2020, we found that
25% of US consumers say the claim 'all
natural' has an impact on their purchase of ice
cream and frozen yogurt," she said. "However,
in flavored milk drinks, this drops to 17% and
'GMO free' is more impactful at 19%.
"The types of clean label claims and
characteristics that consumers are seeking
varies by category. A brand needs to
understand which clean label criteria is
most important to the category and
their target consumers to drive
formulation and communicate the
value appropriately."
Adrienne Pohrte, technical
manager for soups, sauces
and dressings at Tate &
Lyle, said that even within
the same company the
definition of clean label
may differ from brand
to brand.
"One of the biggest
formulation challenges
is to maintain product
integrity throughout shelf life
when reformulating for clean
label," she said. "For example,
we worked with a customer to
clean up their label for a cheese
sauce. We determined starch was
an acceptable clean label product for
thickening and narrowed down our options
based on their current manufacturing
process. With some slight adjustments to
order of addition and cooking temperatures,
the desired texture and sheen of the cheese
sauce were achieved even after refrigerated
storage and holding in a steam table."

Personal safety in a pandemic
Dr. Cheatham said as concern about
COVID-19 has grown, consumers have
become more aware of their personal health
and safety and the steps they need to take
Culinology - June 2020

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