All Natural Claim on Food and Beverages Packaging

A new research has been published that looked at whether visual cues on food and beverage product labels affect the way people see and prefer products*. The visual cues on the labels were claims such as 'all natural'.

The researchers divided consumers into two groups: an experienced with nutrition group and one inexperienced group. The consumers had to look at the ingredients labels and the special statements such as 'all natural' on the label and state which products had their preference.

The research found that the visual cues, such as the all natural claim, affect the buying preference mostly in inexperienced buyers. The recommendation of the research was that the FDA should regulate the claim.

When I read this, it did not surprise me at all. And I have to admit, that claims like 'all natural' fool me once in a while too, and I would consider myself an experienced consumer. But where I wanted to get to is that when a food or beverage says that it is all natural, there is no regulation in place to define what that means. And all you can do is trust the producer, that they know what they are saying and that they are honest.

The 'all natural' thing is actually pretty complicated. As mentioned above, there is no definition within the food industry or the government about what it means. And therefore everybody can define for themselves what it exactly entails.

To me, a natural ingredient is a molecule or product that can be found in nature. But even that is a difficult definition, because sometimes it is hard to measure how a molecule exactly is in nature, because while trying to measure it might actually change the form it is in. And then some ingredients can be produced through natural processes but also by chemical ways. Examples of this are propionic or lactic acid which can be produced through fermentation with bacteria (the natural way) or by mixing various chemicals together. And that does not have to be listed on the label either.

Another way to modify ingredients is by having enzymatic reactions. Enzymatic reactions occur often in nature, but not all enzymes are naturally in the presence of certain molecules and therefore the enzymatic modification of that ingredient might not occur in nature.

Sometimes it is easier to know what is not natural, then what is natural. But in general, I would not put too much trust on claims on labels that are not regulated.

* the abstract of the research can be found here

Calcium Propionate in Buns

Yesterday,  I was running out of time and in need for 'kids and mom approved' buns for hot dogs. I just happened to be at the Target, so I thought I could pick some up there, as they have expanded their food department with fresh foods.

But breads and buns remain a difficult food to buy for a Dutch person in the USA.

In the Netherlands, supermarkets and bakeries get a lot of their breads supplied fresh daily which typically means that they are baked that same day. After a couple days, the bread gets stale and after about 5 days, if still not incredibly dry by then, fungi (molds) will be growing on it (which is a sign to go out and buy new bread and store it in the freezer next time).


So going through the bakery aisle, and grabbing buns, I was amazed by seeing a shelf life of more then 2 weeks. Typically, I look for a long shelf life in bread, because I see it as sign that the bread is  baked more recently and therefore fresher. But my definition of a long shelf life for bread is very different than how an American supermarkets or bread manufacturers define it. A long shelf life helps stores greatly in managing the supply chain and  for manufacturers to produce bread centrally and cost effectively and than ship it far away to consumers.


At first, I was hoping to find something organic, but as that was not available, I went for whole wheat. Unfortunately all the buns had various long name ingredients in it, and all had calcium propionate in it. The calcium propionate was labeled as  'to preserve freshness', which I personally read as to prevent fungi growth. 


Calcium propionate


Calcium propionate by itself is a molecule that is produced by certain bacteria (propionibacter), for example during the production of the Swiss cheese Emmenthal. It is approved for uses in food and feed and by itself not a bad molecule.  Besides that calcium propionate prevents the growth of fungi, it also helps prevent bread from going stale as the calcium is necessary to break down certain parts of starch in the bread into sugars and improves the structure of the bread (making it soft and chewy). Originally, most people would not consume huge amounts of propionic acid or calcium propionate.


Nowadays, you can find calcium propionate in many different applications, (such as the bread) and it is also used in feed of animals.


My biggest problem with these types of additives, is that they somewhat sneak into your food, mainly for manufacturing/supply chain convenience, but there is no nutritional or safety benefit for consumers. And if they work well, they are being used everywhere and before you know it, you are consuming huge amounts of things that you do not need. The way to go would be more regional/local bakery, shorter supply chains and educate consumers about storing bread in a freezer.


So did I buy the buns? Yes, I did, but so far the kids did not eat it. (I still had several buns with less additives and they turned out more then could be eaten anyway).


Will we eat them? I don't know. Because there are many more chemicals in it... but more about those some other time.

If you have any ingredients that you would like to know more about, leave a comment and it might be my next blog.