We followed up by asking 306 consumers to select ingredients they did not like to see. The extremes bore no surprises. Least preferred were: high salt, high fat, trans fat, chemical ingredients and artificial colourings. Most popular were: skimmed milk powder, glucose, fructose and anything regarded as a 'store-cupboard' ingredient. In this larger study with closed questions, just under 50% did not want GM foods.
Garlic was only rejected by 6%, showing that although GM foods were unlikely to be top of consumers' minds, GM labels may create negative associations.
30% did not want to see potassium chloride in products possibly linking it with salt and heart disease or just not liking the sound of it. Ingredients with 'weird names' also had image problems particularly carotenoids, xanthan gum and guar gum.
Does this indicate that consumers don't understand the clean-label concept, or do they lack awareness of which ingredients are considered natural? Scientists generally regard carotenoids (red, yellow and orange pigments in fruits and vegetables) as healthy, but consumers don't like the sound of them. Does labelling practice help or hinder their understanding?
It will be interesting to discover what consumers think of the two latest additives included in the EU positive list through Directive 2010/69/EU. Rosemary extract (E392) and Cassia Gum (E427) both sound natural. But my gut feel is Rosemary would fare better in a consumer study. But don't even think about putting E392 or E427 in the ingredients list!
Paul Berryman is chief executive of Leatherhead Food Research