Consumer concern with additives classified according to the E-number system is prompting food manufacturers to clean up their product labels – that is, to replace synthetic ingredients such as food colourings with natural alternatives. To avoid the growing stigma associated with E-numbers, ingredients suppliers are turning to novel solutions such as food-derived extracts that provide colour or flavour using complex mixtures of natural substances. With increased stability and competitive pricing, these natural additives are now allowing some manufacturers to go E-number-free.
E-numbers
E-numbers, the European numbering system for food additives, are somewhat of a controversial topic these days. Increasingly health-conscious consumers are often disquieted by long lists of E-numbers on ingredient labels for food products, yet are usually not aware of the exact health risks posed by these individual substances (if any), and that a growing number of natural ingredients are also numbered according to this system. As a result, there have recently been a number of voices calling for a revision of the E-number system or even the complete discontinuation of its use, so as to better accommodate additional ingredients of natural origin.
E-numbers currently classify hundreds of food additives, the most widely used of which can be grouped in the following categories: (1) antioxidants and preservatives, (2) colours, (3) emulsifiers, stabilisers, gelling agents and thickening agents, (4) flavour enhancers and (5) sweeteners.
It is worth noting that flavourings themselves do not have E-numbers as they are regulated differently.
It is important for consumers to consider that E-numbers only denote food additives that have been deemed safe for human consumption and approved for use throughout the EU. Nonetheless, several health studies have indicated possible detrimental effects of certain food additives with E-numbers, enhancing the public perception that most or all of these ingredients should be avoided. While it may indeed turn out to be the case that a small number of these additives pose a slightly increased health risk, it is indeed unfortunate that other ingredients with E-numbers may therefore also be considered by many consumers to be “guilty by association”.
New additive regulations
For example, the EU is currently revamping its food additive regulations, some of which have not been updated for decades – an ongoing process that has recently led to the reclassification of E128, also known as Red 2G, as a carcinogen. In addition, a widely reported study, carried out by the University of Southampton and published in the Lancet last autumn, concluded that certain cocktails of food colourings in confectionary products and beverages, as well as the preservative sodium benzoate, are associated with the aggravation of hyperactivity in children. Subsequent to the publication of this study and the initial public discussion surrounding it, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) called for a more rapid response on the part of manufacturers with respect to the elimination of these substances from a wide variety of foods and beverages.
Too much labelling?
Part of the debate on E-numbers has focused on how to provide consumers with an easy-to-remember, easy-to-understand means by which to weigh the risks and benefits posed by various additives. Given the large and growing number of approved food additives, it is currently not easy for consumers to distinguish immediately between those few additives reported to be associated with health risks and the much larger number that are deemed to be benign or even beneficial. Although some have suggested a traffic light system akin to that being developed by the FSA for other food ingredients, manufacturers are balking at this possibility due to the inevitable proliferation of “warning flags” on many food products, which are likely to negatively affect sales. Instead, it would be easier in many instances for manufacturers to simply eliminate at least those additives with questionable effects on human health, replacing them instead with natural alternatives.
Natural solutions
To get around the E-number system, several ingredient suppliers are now offering solutions that are both natural and complex – that is, more like actual foods themselves rather than individual substances, but nonetheless with the capacity to add sufficient colour or flavour to the final product. For example, Chr. Hansen recently launched its FruitMax range – a series of food-derived colouring additives spanning the visible spectrum, with at least 20 different shades including yellow, green, red and violet. Using only fruits, vegetables, spices and other plants with a long history of human use and regulatory approval, the company claims to avoid selective pigment extractions of the plants, relying instead on varieties with naturally high levels of specific pigments. Such a dependence on raw materials has led Chr. Hansen to build up relationships with farmers to ensure a stable supply of plants with sufficiently high levels of the desired pigments.
Two recent examples of the company’s colour ingredients include FruitMax Cranberry WS and Fruitmax Blueberry WS. Somewhat surreptitiously perhaps, these product names do not reflect the origin of their ingredients, but rather the colour of the final food product that they are formulated to help achieve. As such, the former is derived from black carrot roots, and the latter from grapes. According to Chr. Hansen, all colouring additives in the FruitMax range are suitable for use in beverages, confectionary, dairy, ice cream and fruit preparations. Several other ingredients suppliers are also increasingly pursuing this novel strategy of food-derived additives, including GC Hahn (now part of Tate & Lyle), Israel-based Frutarom and LycoRed.
While pressure from retailers for clean labels is mostly concentrated in the UK at the moment, it is only a matter of time before this trend gathers appreciable momentum in the rest of Europe as well. Suppliers of food-derived additives are therefore already positioning themselves to take full advantage of this growing market. Past challenges with the stability of natural colours, for example, are now being overcome through improved formulations which exhibit better stability after variations in temperature, light and pH. Even more importantly, pricing of these natural products is now much more competitive with synthetic additives, another previous weakness that stymied the widespread adoption of natural additives.
Plant extracts are clearly emerging as attractive substitutes for synthetic food additives in the E-number system, particularly for food colours. But what about the large number of other additives with E-numbers, especially those of natural origin? As suggested in a recent report by Frost and Sullivan, consumer education is the key – manufacturers must find better ways to convey to consumers which ingredients are natural and/or safe. As companies strive to meet this E-number challenge, they should remember that food-derived additives are now a natural alternative – in both senses of the term.
The author
Camila Alexander,
Nutraventures, a Belgium-based
consulting group focusing on functional foods and nutraceuticals.
