As demand for health and wellness foods grows, packaging and labelling claims are increasingly shaping how consumers perceive a product’s health and safety.
But wellness positioning can sometimes move faster than scientific validation, said Ashwin Bhadri, founder and CEO of Equinox Labs, a food safety, water and air testing laboratory based in Mumbai.
A shift from marketing-led to evidence-led positioning is needed
“Today, consumers often associate words like natural, clean, plant-based, or immunity-supporting with automatic safety or superior nutrition. But a packaged product can still carry risks related to poor-quality raw materials, contaminants, misleading claims, excessive additives, or undeclared ingredients,” said Bhadri.
“What the industry needs now is a shift from marketing-led health positioning to evidence-led product development. The brands that will build long-term trust are the ones investing in ingredient integrity, scientific substantiation, transparent labelling, and strong quality systems, not just attractive front-of-pack claims.”
This ties in with food safety, which is central to consumer trust and brand credibility.
Technology can strengthen food safety and traceability
India’s recent food-safety reforms highlight the importance of digitalisation and traceability in managing risks across the supply chain.
This is consistent with research from Oman, which found that technology-enabled traceability systems can support food safety, regulatory compliance and supply-chain resilience. The researchers recommended greater use of technologies including blockchain, IoT and AI.
While India’s recent reforms are meant to reduce contamination risks, improve traceability and protect product integrity, there are still gaps and room for improvement, said Bhadri.
This is especially crucial in the health and wellness food sector, which is seeing rapid growth across the globe.
Health halos can shape consumer perceptions
“One major gap India still needs to address is stronger scrutiny around ‘health halo’ products. Terms like natural, clean-label, immunity-boosting, or high-protein often create a perception of safety or superior nutrition that may not always reflect the actual product quality,” said Bhadri.
A 2025 study in China found that the healthy image of fruit can create a “halo effect” around fruit juice, causing consumers to overlook its sugar content. The researchers also found that positive claims such as “natural” and “vitamins” can further reinforce this effect.
Similarly, studies in the UK and France found that claims such as “low-fat”, “zero-sugar”, and “organic” could lower consumers’ estimates of a food’s calorie content, particularly when the underlying product was less healthy.
In July, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on food fraud concerns, including cases where products tested did not align with their stated country-of-origin claims and instances of adulteration in products marketed as pure.
This highlights a global concern about how health halos can shape consumer perceptions.
Within India, Bhadri said that the country needs a stronger focus on ingredient traceability, contaminant monitoring, supply chain transparency, cold-chain integrity, and better testing infrastructure for nutraceuticals and functional foods.
“As the food and wellness sectors grow, regulatory credibility will become commercially critical. Consumers and global markets increasingly expect scientific validation, traceability, and internationally benchmarked quality systems,” he said.
“In the long term, stronger food safety systems benefit both consumers and serious manufacturers by improving trust and reducing market distortion caused by poor-quality products.”
What is the health halo effect?
The health halo effect is the tendency to overgeneralise positive attributes or claims – such as “low-fat”, “organic” or “gluten-free” – leading consumers to perceive a food as healthier overall or underestimate its calorie content, even when other nutritional attributes may tell a different story.
Research by marketing and consumer behaviour researchers Pierre Chandon and Brian Wansink has shown that such perceptions can influence consumption behaviour. Consumers may underestimate calorie content, consume larger portions, or feel more justified in choosing high-calorie sides and desserts when a food is perceived as healthier.
Stronger food safety can support wellness food growth
For health and wellness brands, stronger food safety and traceability systems can help build consumer trust, reduce recall risks and support access to export markets.
This is particularly relevant as functional wellness products become more mainstream and consumers increasingly seek products positioned around preventive health.
Food scientist Rinka Banerjee, founder of Bangalore-based global food-tech R&D consultancy Thinking Forks, identified functional wellness as one of the strongest growth opportunities, particularly in convenient formats such as ready-to-drink beverages, wellness shots and nutraceutical products.
“Across all markets, preventive health is becoming more dominant as a trend as consumers become a lot more health conscious. This leads to innovations that focus on functional wellness, better-for-you products, healthier food choices, cleaner label and traditional ingredients with health benefits,” she said.
“This is especially so in Asia Pacific. Consumers in more developed markets like Japan, South Korea, and Singapore are willing to pay a premium for science-backed nutrition claims.”
The growing health and wellness market therefore raises the bar for manufacturers. A health halo may attract consumers, but it cannot substitute for product integrity.
As the category expands, evidence-backed claims, robust testing, traceability and transparent labelling will be increasingly important in turning consumer interest into lasting trust.
