Healthy living
For a product to be labelled clean, it must be free from contamination throughout the production process.
in almost 30% of the total global greenhouse emissions and of those emissions, 75% is estimated to come from animal derived products. Agriculture is also said to use 70% of global freshwater and 40% of the Earth’s landmass that isn’t covered by ice. In short, a lot of these emissions could be reduced if people cut back on animal-based products.
Healthwise, a recent study published in The
Lancet showed that plant-based diets could reduce the number of deaths caused by heart disease and other chronic conditions by up to 10.9 to 11.6 million premature deaths every year. There are different forms of this kind of diet and the approach people will take varies depending on why they are choosing to adopt it. Some people choose to follow a vegetarian or vegan diet, or even a raw vegan diet which consists of only raw foods and nothing connected to animals in any way. The ‘Flexitarian’ approach is also increasingly
popular, whereby a person may not go entirely vegetarian or vegan but will reduce their meat or dairy intake in order to improve their health. In April 2014, 39 studies were quoted in JAMA Internal Medicine, finding that on average a vegetarian diet resulted in lower blood pressure compared to an omnivorous diet. In August 2019, a study that was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association showed that a plant- based diet could reduce the risk of cardiovascular conditions by 16%, and that deaths from this condition could potentially be reduced by as much as 31%.
Back to being informed
This is where the idea behind the Clean Label Project comes in. As well as reducing the amount of harmful additives, chemicals and so forth, it is also about having fewer ingredients that are derived from natural sources. While the main guidance has been
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that artificial ingredients have to be listed, this term has sometimes been confused with terms such as ‘organic’, ‘natural’ or ‘vegan’. For example, a product may come from a natural source, such as the apple in an apple pie, yet the product can still contain plenty of additives. However, the term ‘clean’ does not just refer to the ingredients used but also how it is produced and processed. While the apple itself might be natural, any pesticide used to keep insects away would not be. When it comes to something that is manufactured, certain additives will be brought in to increase the shelf life of the product. For example, sulphites may be added in order to extend the ‘freshness’ of the apple pie, ‘refined oil’ such as corn or peanut oil may be added for ‘mouthfeel’, which research suggests can contribute to heart disease and increase the risk of cancer. Another example that could be added to baked goods like apple pie is a thickener, such as polysorbate 60. Some animal studies have suggested that this ingredient may be a contributing factor to the development of cancer in some laboratory animals.
It is not just the ingredients that are a potential concern when it comes to manufactured foods and products; there’s the risk that something produced in a factory could become potentially contaminated on the production line. This is not just restricted to mass-manufactured food, there have been high profile cases where food ordered in restaurants has not been properly labelled and people with allergies did not receive the right information, resulting in illness, and death in the most severe cases.
Informed improvement
While official organisations such as the FDA are in place to improve consumer safety, there is the feeling that a move toward better processes will speed up with sufficient demand from the consumer themselves. Yet how can consumers know what alternatives are available in this complicated situation? FMCG companies are aware of what they can do in order to make their products cleaner without impacting on convenience. For example, instead of using an artificial oxidiser in the product itself, an additional oxygen sachet can be added to increase a product’s shelf life. Another way to increase the shelf life in a more natural way is to use a mix of oxygen and carbon dioxide that is also known as modified atmosphere packaging.
For brands, this has the potential to be massively beneficial. With the increased demand for cleaner products and greater transparency, showing commitment to clean labels will inevitably appeal to consumers who are stuck choosing between two different products – as long as the greenwashing doesn’t become a whole new problem. ●
Ingredients Insight /
www.ingredients-insight.com
Think out the box/
Shutterstock.com
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