Food bowl with diced chicken, fries, veggies, and dipping sauce

New consumer research details the tension between clean label preferences & product expectations.

Consumers say they want clean labels and fewer preservatives, but their purchasing behavior tells a more complicated story. 

While many shoppers prefer foods without preservatives, they also expect products to stay fresh, safe, convenient, and high quality. In fact, 30% of consumers say they actually prefer foods with preservatives because of the shelf-life and safety benefits they provide.  

In our newly released e-book, Clean Label, Cloudy Understanding: The Truth About Preservative Perception, we explore what we call the “preservative paradox,” the growing tension between consumer demand for clean labels and expectations around freshness, safety, and shelf life. 

The research reveals that consumer attitudes toward preservatives are often shaped less by technical understanding and more by familiarity, perception, and trust. 

Ingredients that sound recognizable, like vinegar, lemon juice, or rosemary extract, tend to create positive associations. Meanwhile, more scientific-sounding ingredients can create hesitation. 

The same pattern appears in how shoppers respond to front-of-pack claims. 

Claims like:

  • “Naturally preserved”
  • “Made with natural ingredients”
  • “No artificial preservatives”  

continue to strongly influence purchasing decisions, even as consumers express mixed levels of trust in those messages. 

At the same time, expectations around preservation are intensifying in categories where freshness and shelf-life matter most, including ready meals, sauces and dressings, dairy, and proteins. 

And younger consumers are accelerating the shift. 

Millennials and Gen Z are more likely to examine ingredient labels, seek natural options, and pay a premium for products that align with their expectations around transparency and clean label formulation. 

For food manufacturers, the challenge is no longer simply about removing preservatives. It’s about balancing consumer perception with product performance, delivering solutions that support freshness and safety while also meeting growing expectations for recognizable, naturally sourced ingredients. 

The full e-book explores: 

  • How consumers perceive preservatives
  • Which claims influence purchasing behavior most
  • Where demand for natural preservation is growing fastest
  • Generational differences in trust and willingness to pay
  • What these shifts mean for the future of food formulation  

The research uncovers how these evolving perceptions are influencing purchasing behavior and shaping future formulation expectations across global markets.