Food Additives: Pressure for More Natural Ingredients
Posted on: Friday, 7 September 2007, 12:00 CDT
Research funded by the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has suggested that children who consume combinations of certain artificial food colors, together with the preservative sodium benzoate, are prone to bouts of hyperactivity. The research, which is to be investigated by the European Commission, could result in further ingredients restrictions for confectionery manufacturers.
The FSA commissioned research involved children sampling a product containing additives, such as sunset yellow and sodium benzoate. If the European Food Safety Authority adds weight to these findings, manufacturers operating in the UK confectionary market, valued at GBP6.7 billion by Datamonitor in 2006, may face further restrictions about what additives can be used in products.
Although any potential bans imposed on these substances are unlikely to be of a detrimental effect to manufacturers, the increased scrutiny over confectionary ingredients could have greater implications for manufacturers, who should start to look at limiting ingredients such as sugar and E numbers, in favor of more natural ingredients, as parents are becoming increasingly concerned about the content of their child's diet.
Datamonitor analysis of the ingredients used in confectionery products, released in the UK since 2006, reveals that sodium benzoate makes up only 0.2% of the total ingredients listed in new products. Furthermore, sunset yellow (E110) was also only responsible for 0.2% of the total ingredients used. In comparison, sugar was responsible for 6.1% of ingredients used in new confectionery products released over this period. An analysis of the ingredients also showed that there was a higher proportion of E numbers (4.2%) used in the total ingredients overall then there was organic (3.3%) and natural (2.7%) ingredients.
It appears that confectionery manufacturers are not responding to increased speculation regarding the healthiness of children's diets. Despite intensified media coverage, it seems that E numbers and additives are still more popular that natural and organic ingredients. In order to avoid the consequences of any potential future bans on ingredients, manufacturers should focus instead on producing confectionery that contains ingredients associated with health and wellness. This strategy will also resonate with parents who purchase the products.
Source: Datamonitor
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