Demystifying food ingredients: new consumer resource

Cyanocobalamin; pyridoxine hydrochloride; calcium pathothenate: consumers reading these terms on a food label could be forgiven for thinking the product is full of artificial ingredients. A new resource from the US is helping consumers interpret food labels so they can see these particular ingredients for what they are: B vitamins.

‘What’s in Our Food: Understanding Common Food Ingredients’ is a resource that aims to take the mystery out of common food ingredients by explaining why they are used in food products. Developed by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation, the guide is free to download and will be available in some nurse practitioner clinics in the US.

The resource includes a quick reference guide that outlines common food ingredients and their functions in food, as well as providing more familiar terms for ingredients and examples of food that contains these ingredients.

“Our Food & Health Survey results show that nine out of 10 consumers give thought to what’s in their food and pay attention to ingredients listed on food labels,” said Marianne Smith Edge, IFIC Foundation Senior Vice President, Nutrition and Food Safety.

“For this reason, it is important to bring clarity to those unfamiliar ‘chemical’ sounding names of ingredients that are really quite common, readily found in nature and play important roles in keeping our food safe, affordable and delicious.”