Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1101841
Tablets & Capsules April 2019 29 Simon Cashmore, business development manager at Bosch Packaging Technology: As a leading supplier of encapsulation equipment in the nutraceutical market, Bosch wanted to be part of the Clean Label Alliance ini- tiative to help our consumers in this niche area of clean-label production. Paul Davis, quality service engineer at Lonza Consumer Health & Nutrition: Ultimately, Lonza's deci- sion to join the Clean Label Alliance stemmed from our ongoing commitment to be a consumer-centric company. It was important for us to be part of an initiative that would enable us to help solve customer problems quickly and easily and improve access to solutions that can enable more companies to make the transition to clean label. Felix Specht, managing director at Biogrund: Biogrund wants to support its customers by developing new clean-label products for the market. Providing clean-label solutions requires a combined knowledge of the properties of raw materials, formulations, machinery, and regulation, which are the combined areas of expertise for the founding Clean Label Alliance members. What are the goals of the Clean Label Alliance? Peirce: Our goal is to provide technical advice to dietary supplement manufacturers and machine operators from concept to formulation to manufacturing. Most requests can be taken care of over the phone or through email. I like to think of it as industry helping industry. The term "clean label" originated in the food indus- try and has no established legal or industry definition. A product is considered to be clean label if it is com- prised of natural ingredients and components that are free of artificial additives. According to some research- ers, the clean-label trend has driven the food industry, and now the nutraceutical industry, "to communicate whether a certain ingredient or additive is not present or if the food has been produced using a more 'natural' production method" [2]. The FDA has not issued an official statement or regu- lation regarding clean-label standards, but according to former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb, consumers "want clean labels that are readable and understandable. Manufacturers are taking this consumer preference seri- ously, and FDA has a role here as well. We're considering what changes could make ingredient information more consumer friendly" [3]. Despite the lack of regulatory guidance, a group of industry leaders has stepped in to assist manufacturers in switching to clean-label production and ingredients. The Clean Label Alliance was founded by Ribus, Lonza, Bosch, Natoli, and Biogrund "to offer assistance and guidance to dietary supplement companies by pro- viding top-of-the-line resources and solutions to effi- ciently produce clean label supplements" [4]. Alliance member companies provide their assistance, free of charge, to dietary supplement manufacturers that require help in formulating and manufacturing products with clean-label ingredients. Getting assistance is as simple as going to the Clean Label Alliance website, filling out a form, and waiting for a member company representative to reach out with a solution. Tablets & Capsules spoke with the Clean Label Alliance founding members about the group's history, its goals, and the future of clean label. Why did your company become a founding member of the Clean Label Alliance? Steve Peirce, president of Ribus: As a supplier of organic and natural rice-based ingredients, Ribus has always been interested in providing the dietary supple- ment industry with alternatives to synthetic products such as magnesium stearate. Consumers are asking for clean-label supplements, but many manufacturers don't have the knowledge or expertise to make the switch to clean-label ingredients on their own, so they've turned to suppliers for guidance. These five companies came together to form this alliance to offer technical support to producers and their operators to learn how to use clean-label ingredients. Dale Natoli, president of Natoli Engineering: At Natoli, we continuously strive to develop groundbreaking solutions and improvements in the manufacture of quality tablets. We realize the great opportunities for collabora- tion as a member of Clean Label Alliance and see it as a means to offer our support to the industry.