Perhaps the greatest modern thinker when it comes to trust in modern society is the Irish philosopher Onora O’Neill. It is her contention that we should not aim to be trusted, as this is not within our control. Instead, we should simply try to act in a trustworthy way. At a time when trust in the food industry seems particularly fragile, it is a shame this advice does not direct our actions more.
By far the most talked about launch of the year has been the M&S single-ingredient corn flakes. Hailed as everything from a piece of marketing genius to the start of a glorious revolution in product transparency, the new range of cereals could not have hit the healthy eating zeitgeist more. What could be more trustworthy that a delicious, convenient breakfast cereal made only from corn?
My issue with this latest launch – other than the fact that Shredded Wheat beat them to it by several decades – stems from a seemingly old-fashioned belief. For me, a product created under the premise of health should be as healthy as possible.
This new breakfast cereal, on the other hand, seems to sacrifice a genuine quest for healthfulness on the altar of a short ingredients list. It has none of the vitamin and mineral fortification of standard cereals, meaning there’s a strong argument it is less good for you than a budget own label equivalent.
Being a corn flake, it has had almost all of its fibre removed during the manufacturing process, leaving little more than a flake of highly refined carbohydrate. If this is the start of a health revolution, we’re in more trouble than I thought.
Of course, exactly how healthy a food is can be a tricky thing to pin down. There are few single metrics that we can point to, and some of the biggest defining factors – such as the context in which something is eaten, or what it is replacing in the diet – cannot easily be measured. Any true definition of healthy food is full of complexity and nuance. Sadly, nuance is the enemy of marketing, so health influencers and food companies have long searched for misleading single metrics on which to base their campaigns.
The pervasive nature of the UPF trend has focused attention on how many ingredients are on a label. From the look of this M&S launch, there is a considerable premium to be charged for products with minimal ingredients. The one-ingredient corn flakes are currently priced at nearly £8 per kg, compared with £1.80 per kg for a standard own label version.
Although shorter production runs might justify a small cost increase, there is no conceivable reason why these products – whose only ingredient is a cheap commodity crop – should be so much more expensive. If anything, a lack of fortification might deliver a small cost saving, as manufacturers can finally stop bothering with those pesky essential vitamins and minerals in the name of healthier eating.
Genuine public trust will only come from the food industry acting in a trustworthy way. The apparent transparency of a short ingredient list will eventually be exposed for what it is, especially if the primary aim is to scoop more profits from the worried well. We know that simplicity does not always equal health, and while we pretend that it does, we are in danger of eroding fragile trust ever further.
An honest conversation – even one that is full of nuance and uncertainty – is far more likely to create healthier eating habits in the long term.
Anthony Warner is a development chef at New Food Innovation and author of The Angry Chef
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