The October 1 re-designation of 11 classes of chemically modified food starches by the Japanese Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare requires food manufacturers to label these starches as ‘food additives’ on retail food packaging within 30 months.
Jeff Laurent, Regional Vice President National Starch Food Innovation, a leading supplier of starch to the food industry, says the change brings Japan into line with global labelling trends.
“The legislation change will provide consumers with greater transparency about the foods they eat and is in line with food labelling in many other countries,” Laurent says.
“But its introduction will affect food manufacturers across the region.”
Recent research commissioned by National Starch in Japan indicated strong interest from both consumers and the food industry in food labelling, with consumers in particular becoming increasingly concerned about food safety and the ingredients in their foods.
“We are seeing a trend to more natural, ‘additive free’ foods around the world,” says Laurent.
“Our Japanese research clearly showed that less is more: consumers increasingly want foods with fewer ingredients, with names they understand.”
National Starch Food Innovation anticipated the importance of offering ‘clean label ‘starches, launching the Novation® range of starches to the Japan market.
This range gives manufacturers a wider choice of starches for a variety of foods while meeting the consumer demand for additive-free foods.
Made from various natural sources such as waxy maize, potato and tapioca, Novation functional starches offer the performance of modified food starches but with the advantage of a ‘no additives’ front-of-pack claim and simple ‘starch’ back-of-pack labelling.
These functional starches can be used in many processed foods including bento meals, gravies, soups and sauces, dressings, fruit preparations, dairy products and baby food.
National Starch Food Innovation is a leading global supplier of nature-based functional and nutritional ingredient solutions to the food and beverage industries.
The company has a strong focus on delivering innovation to meet market and consumer trends in wholesome and natural products, texture, nutrition/ wellness/ vitality and delivery systems.
“Our vision, combined with an extensive, award-winning product range, market knowledge and technical expertise makes National Starch Food Innovation a partner of choice for food producers,” Laurent says.
National Starch Food Innovation will have an exhibit and is presenting at the ‘Health Ingredients Japan’ tradeshow in Tokyo, October 15—17.
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