Updated March 2025:
Since our last update in April 2023, the trend towards eliminating artificial preservatives in beverages has continued to gain momentum. Consumers are increasingly seeking cleaner labels and healthier options, driving demand for natural preservatives and alternative preservation methods.
Some Key Developments:
1. Natural Preservatives on the Rise: The market for natural preservatives is expanding rapidly, with plant-derived ingredients like rosemary extract and mushroom-based preservatives becoming more popular. These alternatives offer effective antimicrobial and antioxidant properties without the health concerns associated with synthetic preservatives.
2. Thermal Processing Advances: Thermal methods such as tunnel pasteurization, flash pasteurization, and hot fill continue to be favored for extending shelf life without artificial preservatives. These techniques are increasingly used across various beverage categories, including energy drinks and juices.
3. Regulatory and Consumer Pressures: As consumers become more aware of the potential health risks associated with artificial preservatives, regulatory pressures are mounting. Companies are responding by reformulating products with natural ingredients to maintain market competitiveness and consumer trust.
If you’re a food or beverage manufacturer, and you’re considering transitioning to natural preservatives and thermal processing methods to align with consumer preferences, connect with Imbibe technical experts to get your project started.
Artificial Preservatives are Associated with Many Health Conditions – What Some Brands Are Doing to Remove them From their Formulations.
Eliminating artificial preservatives (like nitrates, sulfites, and benzoates) in shelf-stable beverages is a frequent topic of conversation throughout the industry, as consumers seek cleaner labels and certain preservatives are associated with diseases (e.g., nitrates and colon cancer, many others with allergies, asthma, neurological damage, etc.). Natural preservatives and the use of thermal processing methods like tunnel pasteurization, flash pasteurization, and hot fill are some common remedies, allowing for easy removal of artificial preservatives (especially in high-acid products).
Making the Swap
“Natural” is a modern buzzword that has extended to preservatives, especially those of mushroom origin. Nagardo is a clean label-friendly, powdered, and natural preservative derived from an edible fungus.
- Listed as Natural glycolipids, Sweet Osmanthus Ear glycolipids, Glycolipids, Mushroom glycolipids, or Mushroom extract
- GRAS status in the US and approved use in the EU, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
- Used in carbonated & still soft drinks, sports drinks, teas, flavored water, juice, and other categories
Chiber
- Derived from mushrooms
- Promoted as colorless, odorless, and tasteless when used in beverages
- Used in RTDs including flavored water, energy drinks, juices, concentrates, non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages
Why we’re seeing them:
- Natural is a powerful idea
- Consumers are obsessed with mushrooms
The challenges:
- The cost
- Consumer acceptance of mushrooms in unexpected places (e.g., Capri Sun reformulation)
- Active testing still in play
Trust the Process
Thermal processing of beverages is not new technology, but we’re seeing it go from proliferation to ubiquity. The types of beverages that are being thermally processed is always expanding as consumers are looking for more clean-label alternatives to carbonated soft drinks and similar beverage types. Today, we are even seeing breweries producing carbonated soft drinks or energy drinks because they have the right equipment for the job, and they’re great partners for smaller companies.
Tunnel pasteurization
- Great option for carbonated beverages
- Thermal process happens after the canning/bottling step.
- Becoming more common with historically artificially preserved products (e.g., energy drinks)
Hot Fill
- Advantageous for still beverages
- Popular for functional beverages and juice
Flash Pasteurization
- Increasingly common in carbonated and still beverages
- When coupled with tunnel pasteurization, can reduce degradation of nutrients, flavor, and color
Market Products that are Hot (Heat Treated to avoid Artificial Preservatives)
Preservative Forecast
- Studies continue to determine usage rates and effectiveness across applications
- Premature preservative-free or launches with natural preservative may result in product spoilage
There are more than 10,000 varieties of edible mushrooms – the world is our oyster (mushroom) - Pay attention to language, claims, and product labels surrounding natural preservatives
Imbibe Infrastructure (Some ways we can help get your naturally preserved or preservative-free product to garner the attention it deserves)
- Regulatory support: Ensure your labels and claims are in compliance.
- Challenge studies: Minimize the challenges you face as you scale up. Imbibe will evaluate samples with different preservative concentrations, inoculated with microorganisms to assess success or failure.
- Pilot plant: Save time by testing the thermal processing method before manufacturing your product. Imbibe will help determine which type of thermal processing is necessary to create a commercially sterile product.
For product preservation (with or without preservatives) email marketing@imbibeinc.com or contact us by clicking below.
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