'Free From" Foods - The Extra Burden for Manufacturers

An interesting read in Bloomburg on the 'Free-From" foods and the impact on how food is being produced.  The 'Free-From' foods are those that foods that make label claims that include  'antibiotic free', 'gluten free', 'GMO free'.

The sales of these label-claim foods are increasing.  "Products labeled antibiotic free saw growth rates of nearly 20 percent, followed by soyfree at 19 percent and hormone and antibiotic-free at 15 percent."

As food scientists, we recognize that these claims may have little to no impact on health, and where there is a health impact, such as with gluten, there is a very limited number of people affected.  According to one report, 1 in five consumers are avoiding or reducing gluten in their diet, but more than a 1/3 of them have no reason for doing it, while only 8% are gluten sensitive with another 9% claiming inflammation from gluten.  The rest do it because they view it as healthy...more or less.

Regardless of whether we agree on the need for these label-claim items, people are increasingly purchasing them.

For manufacturer's of these types of foods, there are challenges. The first is having transparency.  People know want to know where their food is from, and if they are concerned about GMOs, they want to know the manufacturer is making their food without GMOs...saying so is not enough.

Sourcing is an issue for many of these producing.  Securing a steady source of antibiotic chickens in massive quantities can be difficult.   Chickens will get sick.  Farmers risk loosing a lot of chickens if illness is passed through the flock.  GMO free is difficult.  Grains for example can be hard not to have small amounts of GMO product getting mixed in when you consider the long supply chain from the field to processor with numerous silos and trucks all along the way.

For companies that handle 'free from' and traditional ingredients, managing inventories of numerous ingredients and applying controls to prevent cross contact can be difficult.  Then managing production to make sure there is proper handling of in-process materials, proper clean-out of equipment between production runs, and then labeling.

The positive is the added margin that goes along with these products.   If one is willing to put in  the extra controls, there are people willing to pay a premium.

Bloomburg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-09/-free-from-foods-are-changing-the-way-your-meals-are-produced
‘Free-From’ Foods Are Changing the Way Your Meals Are Produced
By Jen Skerritt, Megan Durisin, and Craig Giammona
September 09, 2018 5:00 AM Updated on September 10, 2018 6:00 AM