Index to Measure Degree of Naturalness in Food Developed

Researchers have developed a comprehensive index that measures the degree of naturalness in foods, reports FoodNavigator on August 27.  The term ‘natural’ is commonplace on food packaging, whether it be on muesli bar wrappers, breakfast cereal boxes, or on packers of confectionery.  However, questions arise on the meaning of the term “natural” and as to whether it provides consumers the assurance a product is “healthy”, minimally processed, or additive-free.  

To better understand what ‘natural’ means from a consumer point of view, Swiss food manufacturer Hero Group partnered with ETH Zurich and the University of Murcia and published a scientific review in Trends in Food Science and Technology in 2017. Hero Group manufactures baby food, infant nutrition, jams, gluten-free breads, cake decoration kits, and cereal bars. The review, together with legal, scientific and technical insights, has helped the researchers develop a comprehensive and standardised index  that measures the degree of naturalness in food products.  
   
The Food Naturalness Index (FNI) measures the degree of a food product’s naturalness on a scale of one to five.  The index considers four main criteria for measuring naturalness: 1) the different farming practices that, according to legislation and standards, have differences in the use of pesticides fertilizers and, therefore, influence the quantity of contaminants, (e.g. An organic baby food product is considered more natural than conventional product targeted to adults); 2) the number of additives declared in the product; 3) the number of unnecessary/unexpected ingredients; and 4) the number of processed ingredients, the use of minimal processing technologies, and the type of storage used (frozen, cold, or ambient storage).