Food Safety Magazine, February/March 2012

CATEGORY: INGREDIENTSBy Lindsey LovingCommunicating Food Ingredient Safetyin a Fear-Driven EnvironmentDespite solid scientific evidence supportingtheir safety, food ingredients have been thesubject of myths and misperceptions fordecades. In recent years, however, the increasedinterest by consumers in “sustainable,”organic and “natural” foods seems to have hadan equal and opposite effect on foods perceivedto be “processed.” Perhaps no other aspectof food is more highly associated withprocessed foods than foods containing “artificial”ingredients.In addition, the benefits of food ingredientsfor food safety, nutrition and health are oftenoverlooked, or aren’t even considered. Foodingredients perform a variety of useful functionsin foods that are often taken for granted, such as to maintainor improve food safety, freshness and nutritional value andto improve taste, texture and appearance.Consumer Awareness Is DecreasingConsumer research on perceptions of processed foods findsIngredient safety isa hot-button issuefor consumers; thefood industry needsto be aware ofperceptions todrive consumerconfidence.that 43 percent of consumers are unfavorabletoward this category of foods. Most consumersassociate processed foods with containing artificialcolors and flavors (76 percent), as well aschemicals with long names (68 percent). 1In addition, there is decreased consumerawareness of the functions and benefits offood ingredients. For example, the 2011 InternationalFood Information Council (IFIC)Foundation Food & Health Survey found thatfewer consumers agree that low-calorie sweetenerscan play a role in weight loss/management(29 percent) or can be part of an overallhealthful diet (24 percent) than in 2010 (38percent and 29 percent, respectively). At thesame time, an increasing percentage of Americans (34 percent)report a lack of knowledge about low-calorie sweeteners comparedwith previous years (27 percent in 2010). 2Similarly, awareness of functions and regulation of food colorsis low. Only one in three Americans agrees that food colorsadd to the appearance of foods; just over half of consumers are50 F O O D S A F E T Y M A G A Z I N E