“Isn't it all unnatural anyway”? Labeling of flavorings and consumer understanding

Peer-reviewed / Manuscript (original contribution) received: July 23, 2018 / Revision accepted: December 12, 2018

Introduction

High-quality ingredients are an increasingly important part of food marketing and they have the potential to significantly influence consumers' perception of quality [1–3]. Companies advertise by highlighting their use of specially selected ingredients such as spices or above-average quantities of valuable raw materials such as berries. This is often associated with a label saying that certain additives or added flavors have been left out. After the frozen food producer Frosta underwent a comprehensive change in production processes and created a new label in 2003, this type of “clean labeling” became commonplace in food marketing [4, 5].

In general, consumers tend to prefer natural ingredients in food [6] and they tend to mistrust artificial additives [7, 8]. Furthermore, consumers more readily accept natural flavorings than “unnatural” ones obtained by chemical or synthetic means [9]. One example that illustrates just how relevant these consumer preferences are on the market was the legal dispute between Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co KG (a chocolate company) and Stiftung Warentest (a German consumer organization), which received a great deal of attention. In the discussion about the labeling of the flavoring piperonal in Ritter Sport Voll-Nuss-Schokolade (fullnut chocolate), the specific issue was whether the flavoring used was natural.

Abstract

Many consumers prefer natural ingredients or are skeptical about additives and flavorings. This is one of the key reasons why the EU has created a uniform legal framework for the use and labeling of flavorings in food with the current EU Flavoring Regulation (Regulation [EC] No 1334/2008). However, as yet there is no empirical data on whether consumers understand the various designations for different types of flavoring that are defined in the aforementioned regulation. Based on a consumer survey, this paper shows that a considerable proportion of consumers find it difficult to differentiate between the terms used to distinguish between different flavors. In particular, consumers are often unable to identify source material(s) used for the flavorings. Generally, consumers tend to think that the level of flavoring usage is high, even if this is not indicated by the designation. Alongside more intensive consumer education, intuitive understanding of flavoring labels could also be improved by the use of more self-explanatory terms.

Keywords: ingredient marketing, flavoring, consumer behavior, food labeling, transparency, clean labeling

Full text PDF (free access)