Frozen meals, desserts and other products offered by food delivery company Schwan will be missing a few things soon: artificial ingredients and high-fructose corn syrup.
Schwan Food Co. announced Wednesday that it would be the latest food company to jump on the current hot trend of eliminating additives and ingredients that the public has come to see as unhealthy or unnecessary, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
The company, which is a major supplier for school cafeterias, says the $12 million endeavor aims to ditch artificial colors in its products by year’s end and eliminate artificial flavors by the end of 2017.
Additionally, the company will drop its use of corn syrup by the end of 2016.
“This is one of those core investments that we will make,” Stacey Fowler, Schwan’s senior vice president for product innovation, said.
The company said on Wednesday that it would also continue to remove any remaining partially hydrogenated oils from its food by the end of 2015.
A bulk of Schwan’s $12 million investment will be focused on finding suitable replacements for artificial flavors, colors and other ingredients that aren’t seen as desirable by customers.
For example, the company says it has already been working on a substitute for green artificial dyes in its “Chips and Mint” ice cream after customers said they wouldn’t buy the dessert if it lost its iconic color.
“Finding a color match is like finding a paint color in your home that you’ve lost the swatch to,” Fowler said.
Schwan to eliminate artificial ingredients [The Minneapolis Star Tribune]
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist