The proliferation of “zero added” food labels, is it to meet consumer demand or is it panic marketing?

Recently, Sun Baoguo, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of Beijing Technology and Business University, said in an interview with the media that most of the public still have misunderstandings about food additives, and companies cannot use "zero additives" as a gimmick to attract consumers.

A reporter from the Beijing News visited the market and found that “zero added” labels are not uncommon in packaged foods, and different companies and different products have different definitions of “zero added”. Claiming "zero additives" or "no additives" or implying that food additives are harmful have become marketing techniques for many emerging brands.

According to food companies, "zero additives" is a market trend and a competition for market segments among businesses. If companies, especially new brands, do not label their products, they will often be at a competitive disadvantage. However, in the opinion of some experts, the "zero added" labeling complies with consumer demand, but the panic marketing behind it and the stigmatizing implications of some food additives are worth noting. This is also the reason why the "Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Food Labeling (Draft for Comments)" puts a tight seal on the "zero added" label.

Labeling "zero added" has become a trend

At the "Two Sessions Food Safety Dialogue" event held by the Walmart Food Safety Collaboration Center on March 17, Sun, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of Beijing Technology and Business University, Bao Guo said that Chinese residents’ scientific understanding of food additives has improved compared with ten years ago, but some misunderstandings have not been eliminated, such as equating additives with food additives, believing that natural foods are better than synthetic ones, etc., and suggested Companies should not use “zero added” as a gimmick to attract consumers.

A reporter from the Beijing News visited the market and found that from dairy products, beverages, ham sausages to condiments, edible oils, etc., it has become common practice for prepackaged foods to be marked with "zero added" and "no added", but it is different. Companies define it differently. For example, the packaging of Cass Double Protein Flavored Fermented Milk is labeled with “zero added food additives”; Qianhe’s zero-added vinegar’s “zero added” refers to the fact that no alcohol, potassium sorbate, preservative sodium benzoate, etc. are added during the production process; The “0% added” of Totole Original Fresh Toudao Soy Sauce means no preservatives and sweeteners are used; the label of Haitian Zero Additive Toudao Soy Sauce is “0% added MSG and preservatives”; the packaging of Jinluo King of Kings Premium Ham Sausage The label above states "no sweeteners added" and "no synthetic colorants added".

In addition, claiming "zero additives" or "no additives" or implying that food additives are harmful has become a common marketing technique for many emerging brands. For example, on the product page, the Internet celebrity yogurt brand Lechun once declared that it "rejects chemical additives." The baby food brand Baby Food, which recently raised over 100 million yuan, also uses "I don't like additives" as a selling point, and says that "products that meet the standards for infant supplements are not necessarily good" because the national standards also allow the use of food additives.

More and more "zero addition" labeling issues have attracted the attention of regulatory authorities. In July 2020, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the revised "Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Food Labeling (Draft for Comments)". It stipulates that for substances that are not contained or used in food, food labels must not be emphasized by “no added”, “zero added”, “contains no” or similar words. Although the management measures have not yet been released, in the view of some food companies, the draft for comments hints at the direction of future supervision to a certain extent.

The "market atmosphere" that is difficult to escape

"The general public mentality is that the fewer food additives, the better." According to Sun Baoguo, there are currently more than 10,000 types of food additives in the world, and the United States There are also tens of thousands of food additives registered and approved by the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) and the Environmental Protection Agency. In contrast, there are only more than 2,000 types of food additives in my country, and only about a dozen new additive types are approved for use every year. The approval speed is slow, largely because of the public's psychological tolerance and acceptance of food additives. ability.

A relevant person in charge of a large dairy company told the Beijing News reporter that "zero-added" yogurt is currently a trend, which is more easily accepted by consumers and is also a competition for market segments by businesses, "especially For some new brands, they may not be able to capture the market without this kind of marketing, so they use unconventional means."

“Everyone is doing this, and if we don’t do it, we will be at a competitive disadvantage. Even if we don’t want to mark our products, dealers and channels will remind us to mark our selling points. This is the current market atmosphere.

"As for why yogurt products are marked with "no added sucrose", Mr. Li, the person in charge of a dairy company in North China, explained to a reporter from the Beijing News.

In recent years, custard products have emerged in the low-temperature yogurt industry. , Lechun, Jane Eyre, Yuanqi Forest and other Internet celebrity brands, and "no additives" and high protein have become the two major categories that these brands focus on. In this industry context, as a newly established dairy company in 2020, the above-mentioned The product selling point of the North China dairy company naturally lies in "no additives"

Not long ago, the company wanted to add edible gelatin to a new yogurt product, but considering the current competitive environment and consumers " "Overly nervous about food additives", and finally gave up the idea. "In fact, edible gelatin is extracted from animal bones and is a natural thickener. However, some businesses are indeed exaggerating the education of consumers on the issue of food additives. There is nothing we can do. ”

In fact, downstream food companies are not the only ones making strategic adjustments to cater to market demand. As an A-share listed company that specializes in the research, development and sales of flavors and food ingredients, Huabao Flavors Co., Ltd. It was stated in the 2019 financial report that as the downstream food manufacturing industry enters a period of structural transformation, the speed of downstream product updates and iterations has accelerated, which has brought new challenges to the research and development capabilities of upstream food flavor companies. Currently, Huabao Co., Ltd. is focusing on expanding. It is the business of natural food flavors and healthy food ingredients.

Experts condemn panic marketing

There are also differences of opinion in the industry on whether it is necessary to ban companies from labeling "zero added". .

Xie Huamin, a former senior engineer at the Standards and Quality Center of the State Grain Administration who once promoted the ban on nitrite in the catering industry, believes that the "Measures for the Supervision and Management of Food Labeling" have not yet been issued, and it is not appropriate for companies to mark "zero addition" on their products. Illegal. A complete ban on the labeling of "zero added" is equivalent to depriving consumers of their right to directly understand food ingredients. In the United States, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Australia and other countries, companies are not prohibited from claiming that they do not contain food additives. .

According to Zhong Kai, member of the Standing Committee of the Health Communication Branch of the Chinese Association of Preventive Medicine and director of the Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center, the driving force for businesses to label products with "zero additions" is to meet consumer demand. “There is nothing wrong with complying with consumer demand, but using consumer psychology to deliberately create panic needs to be condemned. "

Zhong Kai believes that the "Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Food Labeling (Draft for Comments)" prohibits "zero addition" labeling, mainly for two reasons. First, the implication of "zero addition" is that no addition is more harmful than addition. Well, this is actually a kind of panic marketing; secondly, there are a large number of "zero added" claims on the market that are "nonsense". For example, some plant-based products claim to have zero cholesterol, but in fact the plants themselves do not contain cholesterol; claims of "0 "Sucrose" may actually contain other sugars such as glucose syrup or honey. Such claims by companies stigmatize cholesterol and sucrose, which is misleading to consumers.

A Beijing News reporter noted that, At present, some products have changed the expression of "zero additives". For example, the packaging of Guangming Rushi yogurt changed "no additives·fermented milk" to "pure·fermented milk", and the label on another product is "clean formula"; The label on the packaging of Mengniu Guanyi Milk is "Simple Formula"; the label of Jane Eyre's Father's Formula Yogurt is "raw milk, whey protein powder, lactic acid bacteria, nothing else"

For food. Regarding the safety of additives, Wang Zhixu, a professor at the School of Public Health of Nanjing Medical University, previously said in an interview with a reporter from the Beijing News, “It is certainly a good thing to be able to make good food without using additives, but any kind of food additives There is no problem if it is used within the applicable scope. "Sun Baoguo also believes that some businesses or consumers pursue a simplified ingredient list, but the quality of food is not necessarily related to the number of ingredients listed in the ingredient list.

According to Zhong Kai's understanding, my country has been approved The list of food additives used is constantly updated, and GB2760 "National Food Safety Standard for the Use of Food Additives" has also been revised several times. There are generally two reasons for re-evaluating a food additive. One is that there is new evidence on safety. It is found that it needs to be re-evaluated; secondly, the food consumption structure has changed. When the consumption of a food changes from small to large, it is necessary to consider whether the accumulation of certain food additives will exceed the safety limit.

Edit. Proofread by Li Yan and Wu Xingfa