THE PLANT REVOLUTION: CLEAN LABEL FOOD NEEDS TO BE THE NORM, NOT THE EXCEPTION
Priyanka “Pri” Srinivas, founder and CEO of The Live Green Co, here writes a special guest article for vegconomist, putting forth her thoughts on why companies in the health food industry need to get on board with clean label products.
Perspectives on healthy eating have been shifting significantly worldwide, inaugurating a general “green” trend moving towards more plant-based and sustainable diets.
It was shown that plant-only eating doubled in continental Europe between 2016 and 2020 and another report found the number of vegans in the United States rocketed up by 500% over a similar time period.
While it is important that this “plant revolution” retains its authenticity and credibility, even vegan ‘meats’ can fall into the newly recognized category of ‘ultra-processed’ food, which has been linked to the very same health perils of eating red meat and fried food.
In order for plant-based eating to remain an authentic effort towards sustainability and health, there needs to be regulations to protect the safety of consumers. This demonstrates an escalating need for “clean label” products, or products that are truly all-pant but without harmful chemicals and additives. But what exactly is a “clean label” and how can we verify it?