Food safety regulations are extensive, and today’s health-conscious consumer is paying closer attention to the ingredient lists more than ever before. According to Nielsen, “the importance of clarity around the attributes listed on package labeling is on the rise, particularly as consumers are increasingly focused on product and label transparency.” Although we tend to associate the clean label trend with food, it applies to supplements as well. Grand View Research projects the global dietary supplement market will reach USD 230.73 billion by 2027, signaling that people are depending more on daily supplements to fill in the gaps in their diets. With the increase in supplement intake and clean label trends, manufacturers must be more cognizant of consumer demands and amend their formulas to address their needs.
The clean label trend is indisputably changing the narrative of what is deemed safe and what consumers are willing to bend on. While consumers tend to have different perceptions of what they consider “clean label,” the broad, overarching understanding is that consumers want to be informed and see ingredients they recognize on the labels. They want to know that the products they’re ingesting are safe and effective and don’t contain artificial ingredients. For supplement ingredients, this would be equivalent to synthetically made products, which are man-made and produced within a lab rather than natural products that are made through proprietary fermentation methods.