Clean label confusion - what's natural anyway?
Europe was going natural - but not everyone knew what this meant, and EU regulation only provides a legal definition for natural flavourings - not colours.
A 2000-strong survey commissioned by UK ingredients company Ulrick and Short found 45% of consumers said they avoided artificial ingredients by avoiding E numbers – unaware that naturally derived ingredients can carry E numbers too.
The move to natural hasn’t been easy for manufacturers either, who have grappled with functional problems including reduced light and heat stability; changes in the volume of colour affecting product recipes; changes in the necessary storage conditions; effects on product pH; increased cost; and consumer acceptability of the colour itself.
