4 “Natural” Foods & Beverages With Artificial Ingredients

 

Eating healthy requires you to replace a lot of the unhealthy food you’ve been consuming so far with better, healthier alternatives. Organic, healthy and natural food is in vogue among the health conscious. With all the options out there, deciding what’s best for your diet is a matter of a thorough understanding of the food label. In a market entrenched in the race for fulfilling the demands for natural products, many ingredients are passed off and approved under the guise of “natural”, “pure” and “organic”.

In a recent survey by Consumer Reports, they found that over 66% of people believe that “natural” food should contain no artificial ingredients. Below are four examples of natural food and beverages that contain artificial ingredients. To see all of the natural products with artificial ingredients, see the article by Consumer Reports, here.

Natural Fruit Cups

Del Monte claims that their fruit cups are filled with real fruit. However, the products are artificially sweetened. The fruit cups also contain artificial preservatives like potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate.

All Natural Sweet Potato Fries

Con Agra’s Alexia sweet potato fries have large quantities of xantham gum, an ingredient used as thickening agent. The company claimed that their products have been inspected by the FDA and are compliant with the regulations.

Consumers shouldn’t be in a hurry to swap their kitchen cabinet essentials for natural food products just yet. A smarter reading of pack labels will help you make better food choices.

Smithfield’s Cold Cuts

Cold cuts are an essential in most households. Companies like Smithfield, claim that their product Krakus Polish sliced ham contain all-natural juices. But, a reading of the ingredients reveals, at least, five artificial ingredients. Most cold cuts of meat and poultry contain chemicals like sodium nitrate as well.

Smucker’s Bottled Beverages

A majority of the fruit juices available in stores have tiny amounts of real fruit content. Artificial ingredients are used to enhance the color and texture of the juice these include preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, corn starch and artificial colors. The same goes for other aerated and bottled drinks. J.M Smucker’s Natural Brew Draft Rootbeer contains caramel color. The company claims that the color is derived from burnt sugar and yucca extract.

See the article by Consumer Reports with all of the natural products with artificial ingredients, here.

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Synthetic Nutrients are Artificial Ingredients

artificial ingredients synthetic nutrients nutrifusion solutionShouldn’t your nutrients be “natural” too? How is it 2016 and we are still fortifying our food with synthetic vitamins and minerals? It’s been impossible to add natural nutrients from fruits and vegetables to processed food due to the heat intensity of modern-day food processing. Now food companies have the opportunity to add these essential micronutrients to their products with NutriFusion. Our patent-pending process keeps the phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals in fruits and vegetables stable through both intensive heating and cooling. To learn more about NutriFusion for your products, visit your industry below.

Trendsetter Foodies Define Trends Shaping Natural Food

Millennials are now the spotlight in the food industry. Brands and marketers are interested in their thoughts on the ingredients that could become the next big, natural food trend in the industry.

While conducting any study or survey regarding food trends, the “Trendsetter Foodie” group is supposed to be the most important as their choices could be game changers in future.  Packaged Facts has released a report that shows how millennials make up the single largest section of the Trendsetter Foodie population at 36% while baby boomers stand at 32%, which isn’t a wide margin. Food companies and retailers should take note of these figures because both of these demographics will influence the next big trends in natural food.

Trendsetter Foodies – Millennials and Boomers 

Millennials are young and have lower earnings, which means their buying capacity is less than older shoppers. The report said Trendsetter Foodies have a household income either below $50,000 or above $150,000. Millennials rule the roost in the former group while baby boomers the latter. But then again, if the general or non-Foodie population is taken into account, boomers and millennials have more or less similar choices regarding food. It is an interesting trend spotted among boomers which include anyone between the ages of 50 and 69 in the report. They are probably female, non-Hispanic white, live in relatively small households in smaller cities, towns or rural areas, and might not be employed full time. Even though calories aren’t their only concern, they are more likely to go on a diet on an ongoing basis to lose weight. Boomers don’t prefer gourmet, foreign and heavily spiced foods as compared to millennials. Unhealthy foods and those with artificial additives are a strict no-no for them.

A Wake-up Call for the Food Industry

Brands and retailers will do well to remember this vital segment of the market while messaging and designing food products. Trendsetting boomers and millennials like organic food but marketing items preferred by boomers, at first, could be more beneficial. As for retailers, implications for in-store messaging are a possibility just like targeted sale specials meant for boomers via weekly flyers. Millennials are essential but not the sole determining factor of natural food trends.

To put it in a nutshell, we can’t predict which way natural food trends will sway, which makes it all the more necessary to study and analyze the data correctly before significant decisions are implemented.

Inspired by newhope360.com

Learn more about how NutriFusion is providing natural nutrients for the biggest trendsetters in natural food.

Clean Food Labels Are More Important Than Ever

Americans are becoming more cautious about what they eat. According to a recent consumer study, 64% of Americans check the ingredients of food items that they purchase as compared to only 53 percent of Europeans. The research was done by research company GNT Group with Fooddive.com noting the study. This is a noticeable increase in the number of Americans reading food labels when compared to a study that was reported five years ago in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. The study concluded that around 51.6 percent of Americans have their eyes on food labels before they even make a purchase.

“The study’s result clearly shows that natural ingredients have become more important all around the globe. Many manufacturers already comply with consumers’ wishes by, for example, using coloring foods exclusively made from natural raw materials and clearly indicating that on the label. This development will continue to gather momentum in the upcoming years.” -Hendrick Hoeck, GNT Group Managing Director

Simple Ingredients and Clean Food Labels

This new clean label development is noticeable in supermarket food aisles. It is evident from the iconic blue box for Kraft Dinner mac n cheese to the cheery Lucky Charms which have been reported to be manufactured soon without any artificial ingredients. Americans have indeed made a turn for the better when it comes to healthier food choices. Of course, a healthy diet is just one part of becoming healthy. A person who wishes to attain good health must also practice an active lifestyle and should make efforts to exercise daily to reduce stress in their lives.

The study also points out that consumers are not just looking for healthy food, but they want easy to understand food labels and nutrient information. Consumers are also choosing foods that are natural which means no additives, artificial coloring, artificial preservative, and chemical ingredients. By choosing natural and preservative-free food, consumers can guarantee a better quality diet. Chemicals in food are known to cause cancer, allergies, and chronic illnesses. Therefore, extra effort should be used to find healthy and natural foods in the packaged food aisles. Checking for clean food labels will give consumers more power in choosing the best food items for their family and it will also increase the value of their money spent on groceries.

Inspired by fooddive.com

Add NutriFusion for Plant-Based Nutrients and Clean Food Labels

The United States is experiencing an extreme nutritional deficiency amongst its people. The majority of nutrients we consume on a daily basis are developed in a lab with synthetic chemicals. NutriFusion saw this problem and developed a breakthrough innovation for food and beverage manufacturers. Our patent pending method stabilizes vitamins and minerals in whole fruits and vegetables so that they can easily be added to many of our favorite packaged foods. Our ingredients are simple and easy to understand. Consumers immediately know that their nutrients are naturally sourced from fruits and vegetables. We believe our ingredient is essential to processed food over the next twenty years. Americans are not going to start eating fruits and vegetables overnight, so the least we can do is pack their favorite snacks and packaged foods with natural nutrition. If you are interested in learning more about NutriFusion, please visit your respective category.

New Book “Ingredients” Uncovers World of Additives

A new book called “Ingredients” by photographer Dwight Eschliman and writer Steve Ettlinger was recently launched and this is definitely more than a must-read. “Ingredients” seeks to expose 75 common food additives by providing an easy-to-read encyclopedia which will give insight to the structure, use and history of each additive.

Eschliman had the task of sourcing and categorizing each additive before taking a photo.  He said that he was surprised as to how thorough the world was with white powders and clear liquid ingredients. The photographer also said that most of the ingredients were not hard to identify for purchase. Around 60 percent of the ingredients were from chemical supply companies that purchase their additives from China.

The two authors are promoting eating more fruits and vegetables and cutting down on processed foods. They plan to use the book to expose how dangerous some additives are and to raise awareness among consumers. Hopefully, this will start to force food companies to commit to clean labels and natural additives in the future.

“Everybody wanted us to align very much with those on the soapbox talking about how bad the food was…I wanted to take some measures to prevent that.” – Dwight Eschliman

Two Common Additives to Understand

MSG

additives food ingredients msg

Eschliman’s first step was to organize the additives into three categories: neutral, negative, and positive. He admitted that he initially placed monosodium glutamate (MSG) in the negative pile because of the additive’s reputation for causing “Chinese restaurant syndrome” – health concerns such as heart palpitations, allergic reactions, and so on. However, scientists now agree that this negative reputation is entirely unsupported. Glutamate is a naturally occurring amino acid. It is a flavor-enhancer that makes tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese tasty. It has developed a bad reputation due to poor understanding of the structure of MSG and public mistrust.

ADA

Another misunderstood additive is a yellow powder called azodicarbonamide, or ADA. Last year Vani Hari, blogger and activist behind the name Food Babe, petitioned Subway to remove the “yoga mat chemical” found in its bread. The production of ADA has been documented to cause asthmatic symptoms and skin irritations to people who manufacture it, but has no evidence of any risk to people who consume it.

It definitely sounds strange that the same additives found in yoga mats, fertilizers, fire retardants, rust dissolvers and rocket fuel can also be found in the food we eat. But it doesn’t really mean that we are eating these items. Additives such as salt, for instance, are composed of sodium and chlorine and have an estimated 14,000 industrial uses.

Ettlinger and Eschliman provide a fantastic insight about additives in their book. There is even trivintor each additive on every single page. It’s easy to be scared of these additives when you have very little knowledge about each of them. “As it happens, it doesn’t take much to understand,” Ettlinger says.

Inspired by npr.org

Health and Wellness Influencing Food Decisions

Taste, price and convenience are no longer the main factors that help consumers decide which food and beverage to buy. According to a study by Deloitte, Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) called “Capitalizing on the Shifting Consumer Food Value Equation,” about half of the surveyed Americans considered health and wellness, safety, social impact, experience and transparency as “evolving drivers.” These new drivers are examined in addition to traditional factors such as taste, price and convenience. The study also revealed that these new “evolving drivers” play into food decisions regardless of the respondents’ demographics.

consumer values food decisions study

No Artificial Ingredients & Clear Labels Connect Health to Food Safety

Americans are no longer connecting food safety according to only near-term risks to health. Around 74 percent of respondents agreed that food safety should not just be limited to food that can cause immediate harm. Health, wellness, and transparency are all connected to safety which is why food factors including freedom from dangerous ingredients, having clear and accurately made product labels, and the use of non-artificial ingredients should be utilized in describing packaged, processed foods.

“Food retailers are inherently ‘shopper advocates’ and they respect that their customers want both genuine and transparent shopping experiences. Our study sheds light on how companies can better understand the intersection of these new consumer food values and their own growth strategies.” – Mark Baum, Chief Collaboration Officer @ FMI

More Key Insights on Future Food Decisions

Furthermore, the study also addresses several important points regarding the shifting value equation for the industry. According to the results of the survey, the following affect consumer values and food decisions as well.

  • Preferences and tastes of food will continue to fragment
  • Retailers have a unique ability to influence consumers’ decisions
  • New and smaller companies will use new technologies, third-party affiliations, and increase engagement to gain trust.
  • Larger companies in the industry will do all they can to use new, unique value propositions; and market success will be affected by present competitive advantages.

“Today’s consumers have a higher thirst for knowledge than previous generations and they are putting the assessment of that information into their value equation. There is no doubt that the consumer value equation has changed – as taste, price and convenience are now only the foundation with the need to leverage the emerging value drivers. Brands that win with consumers will likely be those that provide the information they seek, well beyond what is on the label.” – Jim Flannery, SVP of Operations & Industry Collaboration @ GMA

Inspired by prnewswire.com

NutriFusion® is Here to Help

Consumer values have been changing over the past ten years, and many companies have tried to seize the opportunity.  Some companies have done an excellent job of creating healthier products, and others have suffered the fate of misleading consumers with health and wellness claims. It’s time to start taking these demands seriously and match your R&D efforts with the value of the future consumer. People have finally connected their health and wellness to food safety. How will you reinvent your products without artificial ingredients and clean labels to enable the consumer to make smart food decisions?

nutrifusion

We would like to think that NutriFusion® could be the answer for some of your new products. Instead of fortifying  your packaged foods with synthetic vitamins, you should try our GrandFusion powders. We create non-GMO nutrients from whole fruits and vegetables. So why doesn’t everyone do this? It’s a difficult process and we have made huge advances in our nutrient stabilization method over the past 3 years. NutriFusion® will give you the ability to clean up your ingredient deck and make powerful claims about where your nutrients come from. If you are interested in learning more, please visit your respective category below.

Jelly Beans Remain Unchanged 100 Years Later

Jelly beans, the chewy candy with a hard shell, was once thought to be related to Turkish Delight but eventually food historians agreed that it is an all-American food item created by William Schrafft, a Boston confectioner. While the price of jelly beans has changed from $0.09 a pound to almost $8 a pound, the shape and form of this little confectionery have remained the same after more than a hundred years. Latest trends call for “natural” food items which translate to food that is healthier and better for us. So, new jelly bean launches now use animal gelatin-free ingredients while still retaining its original shape, flavor, and color. Some manufacturers worry that the candy will never be the same again without gluten, but there are still challenges to reduce the sugar, artificial flavors, and color of jelly beans.

 

Jelly Beans: Private Label vs. The Brands

The jelly bean has become synonymous with Easter because of its ovoid shape and hard shell. After more than a century in the market, it had been sold in bulk with very little personality. Until 1976, when the jelly bean was re-marketed by The Jelly Belly Company as a new gourmet product. Jelly Belly used natural fruit purees and thus opened the doors for a wide variety of flavors. Have you ever tasted Jelly Belly’s pancake and maple syrup jelly beans? The company’s approach is to encourage customers to create their unique jelly bean flavor by combining different beans.

 

 

But other than innovating the flavor of the jelly bean, there were hardly any other changes to the candy. It is believed that the product’s association with the holidays made its innovation slower than ever. Tradition has made it a staple during Easter and Christmas. Therefore, it will less likely be considered a sophisticated candy that needs to be updated and periodically improved.

 

 

Private labels have positioned themselves as “gourmet” jelly bean manufacturers. The small private label brands now hold roughly 15% market share in the products launched in the past two years. Private labels may not have as many flavors as the Jelly Belly Company, but the industry has successfully gathered a large following in offering GMO-free, gluten-free and nut-free confectionaries. The claims of getting a gluten-free or allergen-free jelly bean variety may attract some customers especially those that are looking for candies that will fit particular dietary needs.

The jelly bean has seen little innovation over the past 100 years, and it will struggle to find any soon. Reducing the sugars and artificial flavors will be the biggest challenge for even the most forward-thinking companies in the jelly bean category.

Inspired by mintel.com/blog

Add Nutrients to Jelly Beans with NutriFusion®

Innovation is stagnant in the jelly bean category, but there are huge opportunities to make confectionery better for you. We believe our ingredient could be crucial to adding minimal but essential nutrients to your candies. Our GrandFusion products are made from whole fruit and vegetables. Our ingredients enable you to add 10%-50% daily value of essential vitamins and minerals from natural sources. What makes us different? The stabilization of our food based nutrients can withstand the most intense heating and cooling of modern day food processing. What are you waiting for? Learn more about NutriFuision for your confectionery needs today!

Hershey Invests in Healthy, Nutritious Snacks in 2016

Just the name Hershey may make you think about something really sweet. Right now you may be thinking of peanut butter cups, chocolate bars, and small kisses candies. But did you know the company is launching their new, healthy and nutritious product line this year?

Hershey is now expanding with healthy products that target nutrition savvy customers. Their newest SoFit brand is all about fruit and protein squeezes, nuts and seeds packets, and snack squares which are now available at Amazon.com. The nutritious snacks are a part of Hershey’s newly launched Brookside fruit and nut bar line and Krave, a jerky company which Hershey acquired in 2015. Marcel Nahm, vice president of Hershey’s snack division, revealed to Business Insider, “We understand that consumers’ relationship with food is changing.” He said, “Consumers are more than ever interested in knowing what they put into their body, where does it come from, how does it get there… Consumers want more and more choices.”

Nutritious Snacks Trending Amongst Competition

But Hershey is not the only company that’s turning to the healthy snack division. CVS has recently launched a protein smoothie and chia seeds line. It has also placed its Golden Emblem Abound “better for you” brand. Oreo and Cadbury’s Mondelez announced last year that it is developing a new healthy food line over the next five years. Hershey is not fazed at all. It believes that its long history in the confectionary industry has made it a strong contender than any other brand in the market. Nahm also mentioned that consumers also feel frustrated that they only have snack bars that have amazing nutrition profile but taste like cardboard.

 

Nahm believes that Hershey understands the value of flavor more than anyone else. The company has strong experience as well as resources for marketing new products making them more able to strike deals with retailers. Hershey’s VP is also confident that SoFit and Brookside’s snack approach to health will attract more customers as compared to addressing the needs of health-obsessed consumers. He says that Hershey’s will be between “health master” and “family pleaser.” Family-pleasing, less-healthy snack options from Hershey include Snack Mix and Reese’s Spreads Snacksters. Finally, Nahm said that consumers may see themselves as a short series of pluses or minuses when it comes to nutrition. They would identify foods such as pumpkin seeds and fruits as pluses while a donut or a chocolate bar would be minuses. As Hershey may have fallen into the minuses category over the years, it is now planning to promote pluses through their healthy snack line.

Inspired by businessinsider.com

Create More Nutritious Snacks With NutriFusion®

So many health aficionados will argue that we need to drop processed and packaged foods all together, but that’s really impossible at this point in our food system. Rather than eliminating these foods, we need to focus on improving their ingredients and making them “better for you”. That’s why we developed NutriFusion. We agree that the food system is broken and we need to start eating fresh foods like fruits and vegetables. But that’s not going to happen overnight and we need a solution now. With our ingredients, snack companies are able to all natural nutrients and vitamins from fruits and vegetables. Our products are completely processing stable meaning our nutrients can withstand the high heating and cooling of modern day processing. If you ar interested in learning more, please visit the consumer packaged food page to learn more.

Food is not Healthy, it’s Nutritious

Will we be able to eat healthy food? According to Harry Balzer, an NPD Group analyst, “Never, because the moment something becomes popular, someone will find a reason why it’s not healthy.” But what is healthy food really about? We attribute healthy to foods such as kale while we think of a Big Mac as something that is not. But the thing is, kale salads are not really healthy but they are nutritious. When prepared well, a kale salad would also taste delicious. Describing it as healthy is simply beyond words. If you were to eat kale only then you would become sick.

 

 “Healthy is a bankrupt word.Our food isn’t healthy. We are healthy. Our food is nutritious. I’m all about the words. Words are the key to giving people the tools they need to figure out what to eat. Everyone is so confused.” – Roxanne Sukol, preventive medicine specialist at Cleveland Clinic and medical director of the center’s Wellness Enterprise

Words Matter…Food is Nutritious

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Technically the food we eat is not healthy; we will be healthy if we eat nutritious food. And healthy is not the only misleading word widely used in packaged and processed food products. Take the word protein. Protein is definitely good for the body since it’s needed for building strong muscles and other important bodily functions. We have grown fond of protein and now consume it at an extraordinary rate compared to our ancestors. But take eating pork cracklings, which is all protein, gets frowned upon because we believe this food has huge fat content. It is made of pork skin which is made of protein under a layer of fat. When pig skin is fried, fat is rendered and the remaining connective tissue pops. Pork skin may actually be an ideal protein snack to get you throughout the day.

Another word is “refined” which is commonly added to wheat which has been stripped of the bran, the germ, and all the impurities removed as well resulting in a pure starch. Refined wheat is technically devoid of all oils, iron and vitamins that make wheat nutritious. Sukol said, “Flour stripped of the nutrition that makes it valuable to our bodies but reduces shelf life. Food manufacturers, therefore,“enrich” it. Food companies add the iron that was removed from the refining process, but not enough of what we need. Sukol also said that these additions along with the lack of fiber take a toll on our metabolic systems resulting in diabetes and metabolic syndromes.

Food is either nutritious or not and we are healthy or not. It’s a guarantee though that if we eat food that is nutritious, we will be able to improve our health.

Inspired by washingtonpost.com