Consumer interest in and demand for clean label products has been growing since the first use of the term in the 1980s, with the U.S. market expected to grow from $50.2 billion in 2024 to $69.3 billion in 2029 (MarketsandMarkets). A key driver of this trend is consumers’ increasing scrutiny of highly processed and ultra-processed foods — which contain added sugar, artificial colors, preservatives, stabilizers, and other synthetic ingredients — since such foods have been linked to obesity and greater risk of cardiovascular disease (McManus, 2020).
Though the clean label movement shares similar values with the organic, natural, and free from additives/chemicals trends, the term itself remains loosely defined. Research shows that people often use one or more of the following characteristics to define “clean label”: organic, natural, chemical/additive-free, minimally processed, made with simple ingredients, and healthy (Asioli et al., 2017). We wanted to hear your thoughts on the term “clean label” and gauge your interest in our 100% seaweed-based functional ingredient, so we asked you a few questions in our recent survey!
We presented you with four pairs of nutrition labels and asked you to indicate which one you prefer. Here are the results:
Based upon these quantitative results, the majority of you prefer clean labels, though calorie count and presence of healthy ingredients are also important considerations. To us, clean means simple, short ingredient lists with recognizable, minimally processed ingredients and no chemical additives. In your comments we noticed that many of you align with this definition and listed similar criteria when we asked what clean label means to you.
We were also excited to learn that nearly 50% of you are fully open to purchasing a product with seaweed or algae in the ingredient list and that an additional 40% of you are open to this for certain products and as long as the ingredient doesn’t alter the taste and/or smell of the product! Seaweed has a number of health benefits and useful properties (e.g., emulsification, protein binding) that make it a great addition to foods. At Uncracked we aim to harness seaweed’s superpowers to offer a clean, healthy alternative to current food additives. Feel free to check out some of our other blog posts, like “The Secret Life of Seaweed” and “To the Core” to learn more about seaweed and our mission and values.
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