David Sprinkle, Research Director, Packaged Facts04.01.15
In a perfect world, the food products that consumers crave, can afford and consider healthiest would align with those that: 1) manufacturers and retailers can best produce, merchandise and profit from, 2) doctors, allergists and alternative health practitioners can universally recommend, and 3) would enable the government to fulfill its role in promoting yet regulating the food industry while also maximizing public welfare and respecting freedom of choice. However, the world is imperfect.
The clean label mindset stakes its claim in the resulting battlefield between the practical, the desirable and the optimal. To borrow from the Hippocratic oath, the trend reflects a “first, do no harm” approach to screening processed foods. As that “first” implies, it is a litmus test more than a complete philosophy. A diverse set of people who are passionate about food or are embedded in the food industry—including epicureans; organic, local, slow food advocates; nutritionists; fair-trade activists; and world health and hunger officials—would not necessarily credit clean label with asking the right question.
The clean label mindset stakes its claim in the resulting battlefield between the practical, the desirable and the optimal. To borrow from the Hippocratic oath, the trend reflects a “first, do no harm” approach to screening processed foods. As that “first” implies, it is a litmus test more than a complete philosophy. A diverse set of people who are passionate about food or are embedded in the food industry—including epicureans; organic, local, slow food advocates; nutritionists; fair-trade activists; and world health and hunger officials—would not necessarily credit clean label with asking the right question.
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