Consumers Eager to Cut Artificial Ingredients from Diet

By Sarah Jackson on July 27, 2018

Consumers are growing increasingly skeptical of purchasing foods that contain artificial ingredients, including colors, preservatives, and flavors.

Approximately 62 percent of people worldwide try to steer clear of artificial flavors and preservatives, according to a 2016 Nielsen survey entitled “Global Ingredient and Out-of-Home Dining Trends Report.” The data, gathered from respondents in over 60 countries, also showed that artificial colors repel a close 61 percent of the global population, making artificial ingredients as a whole the most avoided component of foods when shopping.

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This shift in attitude means that reading the ingredients list is no longer just for the health-conscious or those with food allergies; now, more and more everyday shoppers are taking a hard look at what goes into their food.

James Eleby is one of them. The New Yorker says he tries to make healthy food choices on his regular shopping trips to Trader Joe’s.

“It’s not like I can just eat whatever somebody puts in front of me,” Eleby said. “I have to like what I’m putting into my body. There are still a lot of people who see their bodies as this black hole where you put food into yourself and it just goes away [or] disappears.”

Eleby’s worries about the toll a steady stream of artificial ingredients can take on the body are not rare. Nielsen’s survey found that 71 percent of respondents in North America are concerned about the long-term health effects of artificial ingredients.

Indeed, processed foods often contain plenty of artificial ingredients but little nutritional value. This makes them quick—often too quick—to digest, according to registered dietitian Laura Cipullo.

“With each round of processing, you take out some nutrition,” Cipullo said. “If you’re just eating white sugar or fruit juice, there’s going to be less nutrition available so the body is going to digest it more quickly. Then, you won’t stay full as long and you have a greater chance of your blood sugar or your insulin spiking.”

Cipullo believes the shock of just how far chemically engineered ingredients deviate from nature’s bounty is a key motivation for consumers to avoid artificial additives in food.

“People are trying to go back to more natural, back to the roots of things, because things have become so far from real,” Cipullo added. “So, there’s an interest in eating real foods, rather than chemicals or synthetic ingredients.”

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As consumers make these improvements to their diets, food companies are taking note.

The appearance of natural product claims, such as “no additives or preservatives,” on food packaging rose from 17 percent in August 2007 to 29 percent in August 2017, according to data gathered by market research firm Mintel in its 2018 Global Food and Drink Trends report.

Meanwhile, companies like Panera Bread have pledged to cut artificial colors and flavors from their menu offerings. The fast-casual bakery-café chain has even adopted a “No No List” of ingredients, including artificial colors and flavors, that they have eliminated from their foods.

With pressure growing on food companies to nix artificial ingredients, people at home may feel compelled to create a No No List of their own.

“People kind of feel guilty if everybody else is eating organic, for example, at lunch, and you’re the one who’s not,” Whole Foods shopper Kristine Mortensem said.

Whatever the reason people are ditching artificial ingredients, Eleby seems sure of one thing: the interest in going back to food basics will continue to grow.

“If clean eating isn’t mainstream now, I don’t know if it’ll ever be,” he said.

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