The challenge with clean labelling is that it isn’t just one thing. It has a spectrum of meanings depending on the category, region, and consumer expectations. It ranges from the inclusion of recognisable kitchen-cupboard ingredients to using ingredients consumers find acceptable.
The right solution is more than just reformulating. It’s understanding evolving market trends, identifying exactly what your product needs to achieve and having the capabilities to deliver on target performance, function, taste and cost.
We have the expertise to reformulate for clean labels with no compromise to functionality, performance or shelf-life. With our Insights, we are Powered by market-leading Mouthfeel capabilities, we ensure your product will deliver on taste and texture. All supported by a robust manufacturing footprint to provide security of supply.
Common clean label challenges we can help you overcome
Solution Spotlight
With expert support and an extensive ingredient portfolio spanning fibres, sweeteners, starches, hydrocolloids and more, we can find the right solution for any goal.
Our unique line of functional clean-label starches provides similar performance to modified food starch with consumer-friendly labelling. Depending on the region and SKU they can be labelled as starch, corn starch, tapioca starch, corn flour or tapioca flour.
The first Upcycled Certified®* citrus fibre ingredient on the market. Derived from citrus peels, an abundant by-product of the juice industry, our versatile ingredient offers unique water-holding, viscosity and emulsification properties. All with consumer-friendly labelling.
Our range of flour and proteins derived from chickpeas. These deliver superior taste and Mouthfeel alongside numerous functional attributes that aid formulation, all while being plant based.
A maize‑based soluble fibre designed to deliver meaningful fibre fortification with proven health benefits. It supports a low glycaemic response, prebiotic effects and improved calcium absorption and retention, while maintaining excellent taste, texture and digestive tolerance across applications.
Provides an exceptionally clean, sweet taste that is 200x the sweetness of sugar, with no bitter aftertaste. Highly stable, versatile, and applicable across multiple categories and formulations. The simple and natural naming is ideal for clean labels.
We provide a full range of stevia solutions, including label-friendly natural flavouring. Stevia is a plant-based sweetener that has zero calories, does not raise blood sugar and is 200 to 300 times sweeter than sugar.
The trend for simplified ingredients impacts the entire industry. Clean labels aren’t confined to one category, but the challenges change. We have the expertise and experience across multiple sectors to find the right solution for your region and label requirements.
Clean labelling may be a complex challenge. But with our technical application expertise and consumer insights, we can demystify the difficulties in reformulating for cleaner label and deliver clear actions and solutions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Clean label is not a single fixed standard. Its meaning can vary by category, region and consumer expectation, ranging from recognisable kitchen-cupboard ingredients to ingredients consumers consider acceptable. A successful brief therefore starts by defining what a cleaner and simpler label needs to mean for the specific product and market.
That is the formulation challenge Tate & Lyle is built to address. The right solution must maintain target function, taste, texture, shelf life and cost while meeting the intended label requirement. Technical application expertise and consumer insights help translate a broad clean-label ambition into clear, practical formulation actions.
Tate & Lyle can reformulate products for sweet taste while supporting cleaner labels, sugar-reduction goals and relevant nutrition-warning considerations. The sweetening portfolio includes plant-derived options designed to deliver label-friendly sweetness without an unwanted bitter aftertaste. Tate & Lyle’s citrus fibre is a clean label nature-based solution that helps rebuild mouthfeel in sugar-reduced products. Selection is tailored to regional requirements and the product's taste and performance targets.
Mouthfeel is central to recreating the taste experience consumers expect. Ingredients such as citrus fibre and functional clean-label starches can help preserve body, texture and sensory appeal while supporting a cleaner label. Tate & Lyle considers ingredient interactions across the whole formulation so label simplification does not come at the expense of enjoyment.
Yes. Tate & Lyle's soluble fibres can help add nutrition while supporting clean-label objectives and maintaining product performance. This allows formulators to consider additional nutritional benefits without automatically making the ingredient list or sensory experience more complicated.
CLARIA® Functional Clean-label Starches are designed to provide performance similar to modified food starch with consumer-friendly labelling. Depending on the region and SKU, they may be labelled as starch, corn starch, tapioca starch, corn flour or tapioca flour. The appropriate option depends on the market, application and required functionality.
NUTRAVA® Citrus Fiber is derived from citrus peels, an abundant by-product of the juice industry, and is Upcycled Certified®. It is a versatile product that brings water binding, texturising, and emulsification together in one clean-label ingredient. It supports shorter and cleaner label by replacing multiple unfamiliar additives.
The portfolio includes plant-based ARTESA® chickpea flours and proteins, PROMITOR® Soluble Fibre, PUREFRUIT® Monk Fruit Extract and Tate & Lyle stevia solutions, alongside starches, hydrocolloids and other fibres. The best fit depends on the product's sweetening, mouthfeel, nutrition, processing and label requirements.\
Clean-label expectations affect the whole industry, although the technical and consumer challenges differ by application. Tate & Lyle supports bakery, beverages, confectionery, dairy, snacks, and soups, sauces and dressings, with solutions selected for the category, region and intended label.
The process combines market and consumer understanding with technical application expertise, mouthfeel capabilities and a broad ingredient portfolio. Tate & Lyle first clarifies what the product must achieve, then works toward the required performance, function, taste, shelf life and cost. Its manufacturing footprint also supports security of supply.
*Upcycled Certified® is a registered trademark of the Upcycled Food Association/Where Food Comes From.
Information and regulations are always subject to change. Please take the time to read our full disclaimer.
Prospective purchasers are advised to conduct their own tests, studies and review of the intellectual property and regulatory space to determine the fitness of Tate & Lyle products for their particular purposes, product claims or specific applications