The document presents information on developing a Food Naturalness Index (FNI) to measure the degree of food naturalness. It discusses previous scales that measured aspects of naturalness and ingredients/processes considered natural or not. The FNI was conceptualized based on literature review and consumer research, taking into account 15 food attributes. It evaluates ingredients used and production processes, with stricter definitions of natural for some regions. COVID-19 has increased consumer focus on health, boosting demand for natural and organic foods seen as healthier and safer.

1. Food Naturalness Index: a tool to
measure the degree of food naturalness
Presented by:
Swati Sethi
Scientist (Food Technology)
Food Grains and Oilseeds Processing Division
CIPHET, Ludhiana

2. Do consumers’ attitudes toward food naturalness influence
their intentions and behavior?

3. Consumers associate naturalness with
 Authenticity,
 A sense of trust,
 Transparency, and
 Control
Consumers assume that a product that is claimed to be natural is
 Minimally processed,
 Does not contain genetically modified organisms
 Artificial ingredients,
 and is organic
Natural foods are perceived to be healthier and better for the environment and overall,
naturalness is considered a generally positive attribute, especially for food.

4. What is Consumer Buying Behavior?
Buying Behavior is the decision processes and acts of people
involved in buying and using products.
Need to understand:
 Why consumers make the purchases that they make?
 What factors influence consumer purchases?
 The changing factors in our society.

5. Stages of the Consumer Buying Process
 Problem Recognition
 Information search
 Evaluation of Alternatives
 Purchase decision
 Purchase
 Post-Purchase Evaluation

6. Importance of Food Naturalness Index
 Humans have an innate sense of attachment to natural things
 Surveys showed a strong preference for natural foods

7. Consumer
survey
based in
USA

8. Nielsen Global Health and Wellness Survey (2015)
Conducted in 60 countries, involving 30,000
consumers, reveal that the most desirable food
attributes are freshness, naturalness, and minimal
processing.
Kampffmeyer Food Innovation Study (2012: 1)
Involved over 4,000 consumers in eight European
countries show food naturalness as a “decisive
buying incentive,” and almost three-quarters of
the respondents perceive a close connection
between “natural” and “healthy.”

9. While “organic” labeling for food is regulated, there are almost no regulations
concerning the use of the word “natural” in food advertising.
In order to establish reliable tools to measure the importance of naturalness for
consumers, it was crucial to identify the aspects that people take into consideration when
assessing the naturalness of food products.
Assessing the naturalness

10. Steptoe, Pollard, and Wardle (1995) published the Food Choice
Questionnaire (FCQ), which identifies the motives underlying food
selection.
Health, mood, convenience, sensory appeal, price, weight control,
familiarity, and ethical concerns. Three questions focus on the absence of
additives and artificial ingredients as well as on the presence of natural
ingredients.
Pula, Parks, and Ross (2014) modified the Food Choice Questionnaire by
Steptoe et al. (1995).
The items selected to represent the “natural content” of food in their study
were related to additives, natural ingredients, processing, and residues
from agricultural production.

11. Based on a comprehensive literature review, Román et al. (2017)
identified aspects that have been found to influence consumer's
perception of naturalness. However, none of the subscales they
were aware of, took all of these aspects into consideration

12. How should importance of naturalness be measured?

14. A comparison of different scales
Authors Year Scale name Description Measuring scale
Steptoe et al. 1995 Natural content Use of additives Scale from 1 to 4 [not at all important,
a little important, moderately
important, very important]
Roininen et al. 1999 Natural product
interest
Individual interest in eating
foods that do not contain
additives and are processed
7-point Likert Scale [strongly disagree
to strongly agree]
Bäckström et al. 2004 Adherence to
natural
foods
Refers to organically -grown
products and signaling the
importance of nature
7-point Likert Scale [strongly disagree
to strongly agree]
Renner et al. 2012 Natural concerns Assesses the preference for
natural foods from fair trade
or organic farming
7-point rating scale [1=never,
7=always]
Pula et al. 2014 Natural content Use of additives, natural
ingredients and processing
7-point bipolar scale[1=disagree
strongly, 7=agree strongly]

15. Description of the items of the new naturalness scale (Michel & Siegrist, 2019)
Ingredients used: Free from
1. Artificial Ingredients
2. Preservatives
3. Additives
4. Artificial Colors and Flavors
5. Chemicals, Hormones and Pesticides
6. GMOs
Ingredients used: Presence of
7. Natural Ingredients
Production Process
8. Minimally Processed
9. Traditional Production Methods/Homemade

17. All components are supported with consumer
research insights (green rectangles), three of
them with science and technology insights
(blue rectangles), and two with legal insights
(orange rectangles).
*One processed ingredient only if:
1) declared gentle process on label and/or
2) stored chilled/frozen.
From 15 food natural attributes 154 (A), four
component criteria (B), and the evaluation
criteria and scoring system of the FNI (C).
Conceptual framework for developing
the FNI index (Sanchez-Siles et al.,
2019)

18. Differences in farming
practice and scores on
the FNI
• *Stricter (adapted from
DeMaria & Drogue, 2017).
EU, Switzerland and South
Africa: max 0.01 mg/kg.
Canada: default limit of 0.1
mg/kg. Argentina, Australia,
China, Korea, Mexico, Russia
and USA: zero tolerance
provisions or a very low
maximum level

19. List of unnecessary/unexpected ingredients
Source: (Sanchez-Siles et al., 2019)

20. List of processed ingredients
a Monteiro et al. (2016) and Poti et al. (2015)

21. Scoring values and examples for the degree of processing criteria

22. Reference:
Sanchez-Siles, L.M., Michel, F., Román, S., Bernal, M.J., Philipsen, B., Haro, J.F., Bodenstab, S., Siegrist, M., The
Food Naturalness Index (FNI): An integrative tool to measure the degree of food naturalness, Trends in Food Science
& Technology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2019.07.015.
* The underlined text corresponds to processed ingredients

23. Food Naturalness index: India and developed countries
Developed countries Developing countries
Different scales have been developed No such scale found
Published data in international
journals
No such data found in international
journals
Studied consumers food buying
behavior
No authentic or published data
available
Surveys based on detailed
questionnaire yet simple to assess by
scientists and researchers
No such surveys by scientists and
researchers

24. COVID-19’s Impact on Food preferences and Eating Behaviour
 Whenever there is a food or
health scare, consumers look
at disease prevention and
improving nutrition.
 As a result of COVID-19,
73% of consumers say “they
plan to eat and drink
healthier”

25.  Organic foods get a sales boost as they are perceived to be healthier
and safer than conventional foods
 Demand for health care supplements like Chyawanprash, multi-
vitamin tablets and immunity-boosting products.
 Even in a world post-Covid-19, the need for such products are likely
to continue as the importance of good health takes precedence
among consumers.

26. Thank you