The definition of clean label may vary from consumer to consumer, as well as from food company to food company and from retailer to retailer. Among the range of definitions, certain characteristics remain constant: products void of artificial preservatives, colors or flavors. Ingredient suppliers responding to this trend continue to offer innovations in natural alternatives, energy that was evident in many exhibitor booths at IFT18, the Institute of Food Technologists’ annual meeting and exposition held July 15-18 in Chicago. A move by US Foods Holding Corp., Rosemont, Ill., was a recent example of clean label focus. The company on July 9 said its entire line of Metro Deli, Rykoff Sexton, Chef’s Line and Stock Yards Exclusive Brand products will be created following a new Unpronounceable list initiative, which aims to remove hard-to-pronounce ingredients from the ingredient list of products. Artificial flavors and colors are among more than 80 ingredients on the Unpronounceable list as are the preservatives BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) and TBHQ (tertiary butylhydroquinone). Likewise, Whole Foods Market, Austin, Texas, a business unit of Amazon Inc., has a list of unacceptable ingredients, which include artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Removing BHA, BHT and TBHQ from products was a focus at IFT18 for DuPont Nutrition & Health, now a part of DowDuPont Specialty Products Division. DuPont Nutrition & Health promoted its new Guardian Toco 30P, a tocopherol-based powdered antioxidant. The ingredient has demonstrated efficiency in low-moisture foods like cereal and nutrition bars. Guardian Toco 30P contains mixed tocopherols, which are more effective as antioxidants than a-tocopherol alone, according to DuPont Nutrition & Health. The powder mix may be blended with other dry ingredients in applications, said Y Joy Zhong, Ph.D., senior application scientist — food production for DuPont Nutrition & Health and based in New Century, Kas. Guardian Toco 30P has a low sensory impact and no color impact, according to the company. It is purely for food applications, not pharmaceuticals. Kemin Industries, Des Moines, Iowa, recently added Fortium RVC, a rosemary and ascorbic acid blend, to its antioxidant portfolio. It has been shown to work in bakery and snack applications. “This new blend of our rosemary and ascorbic acid is a great complement to our proprietary oil-soluble green tea extract and more traditional options, such as mixed tocopherols and synthetics,” said Courtney Schwartz, principal marketing communications manager for Kemin Food Technologies. “Fortium RVC helps fill the gap between efficacy and clean label as manufacturers continue to respond to consumer demand for consumer-friendly labels.”

Rising demand for naturally sourced food colors, which goes along with increasing consumer awareness of clean label products, is driving the food colors category, according to a report from MarketsandMarkets, Pune, India, released in July. The report projects the global food colors market, estimated at $3.88 billion in 2018, to experience a compound annual growth rate of 5.7% to reach $5.12 billion by 2023. Naturally sourced blue may be obtained from blue-green algae called spirulina (Arthrospira platensis). Elena Leeb, who works in research and development for the GNT Group, was a panelist in an IFT18 symposium on spirulina. She provided insight into the quality and functionality of spirulina as a naturally sourced color solution. Potential applications include confections, baked foods, decorative sugars and coatings. Huito, a South American fruit, is another natural source for blue color. Archer Daniels Midland Co., Chicago, sampled a “purple power-up drink” that contained huito at IFT18. Blue color from huito is acid-stable, meaning it may work in low pH beverages like sports drinks. The color from huito falls under Food and Drug Administration fruit juice regulations and may be labeled as fruit juice on ingredient lists, or it also may be labeled as huito. Recent innovation in natural flavors has centered around vanilla. Solvay, Princeton, N.J., introduced Rhovanil US Nat to the U.S. market at IFT18. The ingredient meets U.S. natural flavor regulations and has been shown to work as a one-for-one drop-in replacement for synthetic vanillin. Potential applications include chocolate, confectionery, bakery and beverages. Solvay at IFT18 featured Rhovanil in waffles and cookies. Prova, which has a U.S. office in Danvers, Mass., featured vanilla alternatives with other natural flavors that have been shown to work as full or partial replacements of vanilla extracts. – Source: Food Business News.