While demand for natural drives market growth, consumers are still eager to try new food and beverage experiences.

In response to decades of increased incidents of adulteration and fraud in the Italian hard cheese category, U.S. hard cheese leader Arthur Schuman Inc. (ASI) announced the creation of the industry's first trust mark for quality assurance.

And today, in an effort to bring such ingredients to the forefront, Gorton's announced a commitment to simplify ingredients and introduce new, cleaner recipes for all of the brand's items by the end of 2017.

With ongoing interest in clean labeling and greater transparency, the free-from category is continuing to grow globally and, in addition to the high-profile developments in areas such as lactose-, dairy- and gluten-free foods and drinks, there has also been a marked upturn in interest in GMO-free or non-GMO products.

This initiative to simplify ingredient lists is part of Schwan’s longtime work to evolve its foods to meet the health and wellness expectations of consumers.

Several significant developments have the potential to shape the types of claims that producers make about the genetically engineered (GE) content of their foods. 

In fact, 43 % of consumers agree that free-from foods are healthier than foods without a free-from claim, while another three in five believe the fewer ingredients a product has, the healthier it is (59 %).