Consumer trust in food brands is changing. Where once a brand could make a claim and expect it to be taken at face value, there is now growing scepticism around nutritional messaging, particularly in categories such as functional foods and supplements.
A YouGov poll in 2024 found 74% of UK consumers believe food companies are not honest about the health impacts of their products, reflecting widespread distrust of industry health claims. Other studies suggest 50% of British adults doubt the honesty of major brands in this area.
Having spent more than two decades working in health and wellbeing, I find this unsurprising. There is growing global interest in the effects of ultra-processed foods on our health, driven by mounting scientific evidence and popularised by bestselling books such as Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken.
For too long, consumers have had to navigate inconsistent standards, overstated claims and vague promises with little substance behind them.
Changing public perception
What is encouraging is how leading brands are responding to changing public perception. The clean-label movement, which has been gaining momentum for the past decade driven by shorter ingredient lists, natural ingredients and ‘no added preservative’ claims, is evolving into something more rigorous. We are entering what might be called a ‘trust economy’, where independent verification, third-party testing and transparent sourcing are the new currency of credibility.
In this environment, savvy consumers are no longer just asking ‘what’s in this product?’, but also ‘what can you prove?’ Shelf space will increasingly be won not simply on taste, value and quality, but on trust, transparency and accountability.
This shift is already visible across the sector. There is growing emphasis on ingredient transparency, sourcing integrity and third-party verification. Reputations are increasingly built on independently verified credentials – such as UMF, widely recognised as the gold standard in manuka honey grading.
As further evidence of the direction that the market is moving, babyfood brand Gerber recently achieved Clean Label Project certification across more than 80 products.
Jaclyn Bowen, executive director of Clean Label Project, recently said: “When it comes to babyfood, our certifications let parents and caregivers know the foods they’re buying have been rigorously tested for heavy metals, pesticides and more, and that the foods meet our strict standards.”
Aligning marketing with product reality
A recent ASA ruling against a well-known supplement brand found their ‘food-grown’ claim potentially misleading, on the grounds that the supplements were created by adding isolated nutrients to a cultured food medium rather than being derived solely from whole foods. It is a further reminder of the growing need to align marketing language closely with product reality.
Clearly, for some brands, this new trust economy will bring challenges, as product claims face greater scrutiny from increasingly informed shoppers. For others, it represents a significant opportunity. Brands that can genuinely build trust with buyers by offering powerful tools that inform consumers about their products will be better placed to influence purchasing decisions. In the long run, it will be those who can back their claims with independently verified data that win.
The trust economy is not a trend. It will continue to grow as consumers become more informed and seek out brands willing to be open and transparent. In the years to come, the most powerful label on a product may no longer be ‘high protein’ or ‘natural ingredients’ but ‘tested and evidenced’.
Pauline Cox is director of functional nutrition at Hunter & Gather
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