Thinking Cleaner? Consider Flour.

4 minute read

So you want a cleaner label.

Clean labels are on trend as audiences across all demographics pay closer attention to what is in the food they consume. As with any trend, it’s important to understand where consumers are coming from so you can meet their demands. But they don’t necessarily agree on what constitutes a clean label. At heart, most definitions are grounded in a broad effort to increase transparency and clearly convey ingredients and formulations in user-friendly terms. This is part of an ongoing trend of modern consumers favoring brands they feel represent their ideals. “An expanding definition of clean label… aligns Gen Z and Millennial purchasers with their values,”1 writes one expert.  But the tricky thing about values is that no two people hold exactly the same ones. That has led to a proliferation of clean-label-adjacent claims that are also highly scrutinized by consumers. “Demands have evolved,” according to a recent article, “Natural and artificial-free are now the bare minimum, and today’s top requests range from GMO-free and “real” ingredients, to products that take human and animal welfare, supply chain transparency, and sustainable sourcing into account.”2 With so many possible avenues to explore, it’s easy to feel lost. But we know one ingredient that allows you to get to the good stuff, right away.

Create a stacked pack.

As the only clean-label, non-GMO, better-for-you wheat flour on the market, HealthSense® High-Fiber Wheat Flour helps add loads of clean-label claims to packs and formulations. Health-conscious consumers worried about their gut health? Healthsense Flour is an excellent source of prebiotic fiber to improve digestion. Are they watching their weight and counting their macros? It reduces net carbs. Are they simply looking for healthier overall options? Well, it can lower glycemic load, support a healthy immune system and is the first refined flour to be awarded the Heart Check by the American Heart Association. It labels simply as “wheat flour”—an ingredient that might seem unexpected as a key to unlocking healthful claims. But just a minor one-to-one swap with traditional flour cleans up any label—no matter who’s looking at it or what they’re looking for. And that means you’re able to deliver fiber without the need for modified wheat starch, oat fiber or additives like inulin, polydextrose or cellulose.

Of course, as we’ve discussed, that can mean a lot of different things—but most importantly, 7 in 10 say they’re “willing to pay more for current brands that have been reformulated to make claims about their ingredients.”4 That means cleaning up your label, however you do it, can add up for your business. Healthsense Flour gives you all the benefits of a cleaner label, but the best part? It’s a flavorless, 1:1 swap for traditional flour, which means reformulation is simple and you don’t need to mess with the products and applications that made you successful.

Start cleaning up.

Whichever definition you use for a “clean label,” it’s clear this trend isn’t going away. If you look in unexpected places, you can find exciting solutions. The sooner you can add health-focused claims to your recipes, the sooner consumers can reward you for the effort.

Learn more about cleaning up your label while still packing your products with benefits. Click here to get more information about HealthSense® High-Fiber Wheat Flour.

1 “Baking industry experts discuss clean label,” Supermarket Perimeter, 7/25/24
2 “Clean label snack trends,” SupplySide Food & Beverage Journal, 8/30/21
3 Kerry Taste & Nutrition Study
4 Ingredion Global Clean Manufacturer Research