More American consumers are jumping on the “free-from" and seeking out more natural or less processed foods. In fact, 43 percent of consumers agree that free-from foods are healthier than foods without a free-from claim, while another 59 percent believe the fewer ingredients a product has, the healthier it is.

Interestingly, 71 percent of free-from consumers are looking for preservative-free claims on food and beverage label, which opens the door for innovation in the area of natural antioxidants as food preservatives. The concept isn’t new and natural ingredients have a long history of being used as food preservatives in a wide variety of applications.

Cue in natural antioxidants as food preservatives. Meat and poultry products have been increasingly incorporating preservative ingredients because they significantly improve shelf life, aroma, taste and other aspects of these products. Compared with conventional synthetic preservatives, natural preservatives such as spices and seasoning are gaining more acceptance from consumers as these ingredients project an image of being natural, socially responsible and clean label.

What's more, in addition to the typical preservative benefits such as improved shelf lifetime and aroma that spices and seasonings preservatives may contribute, the nutritional benefits provided by the antioxidant and anti-microbial spices/seasonings themselves can be added benefits.

This topic will be discussed during the Food Product Design track of the SupplySide West Education program, sponsored by BASF, Tuesday, Oct. 6 from 1-1:50 p.m. I invite you to join Jin Ji, Ph.D., CTO and executive vice president, Brunswick Laboratories Inc., who will lead the “Natural Antioxidants as Food Preservatives: Ideas for Today & Tomorrow" session. Attendees will learn major challenges for producers and merchandisers in incorporating natural antioxidants as food preservatives. Also, science-backed products will have better traction on consumer support, as consumers are more sophisticated and focusing on healthy products with clinical and pre-clinical study support.