Clean Label Foods: Ingredient Innovation, Processing Technologies, and Consumer-Driven Sensory Quality

The clean-label movement has emerged as a significant force shaping innovation across the food and beverage industry. Consumers increasingly seek products perceived as natural, minimally processed, transparent, and free from unnecessary additives, while simultaneously expecting convenience, sensory quality, safety, affordability, and extended shelf life. This shift has created new challenges for food manufacturers, as the replacement or reduction of conventional additives can affect texture, stability, flavour, colour, nutritional quality, and microbial safety. Consequently, clean-label product development requires an integrated approach that brings together ingredient science, food processing, formulation, and sensory/consumer science. Advances in natural ingredients, plant-based compounds, emerging preservation systems, and mild processing technologies are opening new pathways for clean-label innovation, consistent with global sustainability goals and national net-zero commitments. A key ongoing challenge is ensuring that additive reduction does not compromise microbial safety or shelf-life stability, which requires rigorous evaluation alongside sensory and ingredient studies. However, differences in consumer perceptions, scientific evidence, definitions, and sensory expectations, continue to complicate the transition toward genuinely clean-label foods.This Research Topic aims to explore emerging scientific and technological approaches that can enable the development of safe, stable, nutritious, and commercially viable clean-label foods. Particular emphasis will be placed on ingredient innovation and processing strategies that reduce dependence on conventional synthetic additives without compromising product quality or food safety. The topic seeks to examine how natural colors, flavors, antioxidants, antimicrobials, hydrocolloids, plant-derived ingredients and other functional alternatives can support clean-label formulations while maintaining microbial safety and product stability. It will also address emerging non-thermal and clean processing technologies, including hydrodynamic cavitation, high-pressure processing, and pulsed electric fields, and their effects on sensory quality, consumer acceptance, and food safety. Importantly, the Research Topic will consider the sustainability implications of clean-label innovation, including reduced production carbon footprint in line with national net-zero commitments. Contributions integrating scientific evidence with industrial applicability and consumer-driven sensory science are particularly encouraged.This Research Topic welcomes contributions addressing, but not limited to:• Innovative natural, plant-based, ingredients for clean-label formulations• Alternatives to synthetic preservatives, colours, flavours, antioxidants, emulsifiers, stabilizers, and texturizing agents• Emerging Non-thermal and clean processing technologies (e.g., hydrodynamic cavitation, high-pressure processing, pulsed electric fields) supporting clean-label food development• Reformulation strategies and their effects on sensory quality, texture, shelf life, and food safety• Consumer-driven sensory evaluation and acceptance of clean-label reformulated foods• Sustainability, circular bioeconomy, cost-effectiveness, and scalability of clean-label solutions with a focus on reduced production carbon footprintWe welcome Original Research, Review, Systematic Review, Mini Review, Perspective, Brief Research Report, and Technology/Methods articles that provide meaningful scientific, technological, or interdisciplinary insights into the future of clean-label food innovation. Topic editors: Sonal Patil, Dr.Mukul Machhindra Barwant, Yi-Chan Chiang Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85895/clean-label-foods-ingredient-innovation-processing-technologies-and-consumer-driven-sensory-quality