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Simple Ingredient Swaps to Remove Unwanted Additives

By: Author Jeff Campbell

Posted on Last updated:

Categories Guest Posts

As more consumers pay attention to food labels, interest continues rising around clean label ingredients. Shoppers want to recognize additive names and know products don’t contain unnecessary synthetic substances. While transitioning fully to simplified recipes can take time, brands can make positive changes today through easy ingredient substitutions.

Understanding Additive Concerns

Why do consumers want to avoid certain food additives? Reasons vary, but common concerns include:

  • Safety questions: Debate exists over possible health risks from some common additives like artificial colors or preservatives. Even if impacts seem uncertain, consumers would rather reduce exposure.
  • Lack of nutritional value: Ingredients such as thickeners, stabilizers, and emulsifiers provide functional properties. However, they offer little to no nutritional value. Some consumers would prefer swapping these out.
  • Too synthetic: Shoppers aiming to reduce processed aspects of their diet are often seeking fewer synthetic or chemical-sounding ingredients on labels. Simplified alternatives better fit their lifestyle goals.

While these additives are safe, consumers have personal preferences for their families. Brands implementing ingredient changes enable people to personalize choices.

Easy Swap Ideas

Many additives serve important processing functions. Eliminating them without affecting quality requires reconfiguring full recipes and manufacturing procedures. However, brands can make simple substitutions for improved consumer perception:

Thickeners/Stabilizers

  • Replace cellulose additives, guar gum, and xanthan gum with vegetable starches like arrowroot and tapioca or vegetable purees
  • Swap modified starch with natural unmodified starch alternatives
  • Use naturally occurring pectin instead of alginate or carrageenan

Preservatives

  • Substitute calcium propionate with cultured vinegar and lemon juice
  • Choose botanical extracts like rosemary and green tea over butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)
  • Swap sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate with lemon juice concentrate and vitamin E

Artificial Colors/Flavors

  • Trade FD&C colors for fruit and plant extracts like beet, carrot, paprika, turmeric, mint, and vanilla
  • Replace artificial and natural flavor chemicals with real vanilla, cocoa, citrus oils, or spices

Sweeteners

  • Use maple syrup, date syrup, or coconut sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup
  • Select fruit juice concentrate rather than sucralose

Considerations Around Changes

While simplifying ingredients can provide rewards, brands must weigh certain factors when altering established recipes. Most importantly, any substitutions cannot undermine the quality and safety that consumers expect. Changes should maintain a similar shelf life compared to the original formulations. Taste, texture, aroma, and other sensory aspects should also stay consistent after swapping complex additives for simpler alternatives. Thorough testing in research kitchens helps brands evaluate overall performance.

Ingredient Costs

Ingredient costs present another consideration. More recognizable options like actual fruit juices or vanilla extract do come with higher price tags than artificial flavors or sweeteners. However, many consumers have displayed a willingness to absorb some increase in item pricing to avoid certain synthetic additions. One study showed that 78% of consumers will pay more for clean-label products.

Regulatory Requirements

Regulatory requirements provide additional aspects to examine when pursuing recipe reforms. Brands must document that any recipe reconfigurations adhere to all relevant food safety rules and labeling laws in target markets. Formulations as well as claims must align with standards for categories like organic certification or definitions around natural claims. Ongoing compliance efforts, inspection readiness, and detailed recordkeeping aid reputation. 

While some extra work arises, forward-looking brands discover that operationalizing today’s clean label preferences generates goodwill and expands appeal to growing demographics demanding ingredient quality.

 

Jeff Campbell
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