For the better part of the last hundred years, the modern food system has relied on artificial ingredients to change the flavor, texture, preservation and nutrition of foods. In the 20th century, the largest food ingredient companies created vast libraries of artificial chemicals, which they deeply characterized and assembled into different combinations to meet the specs of product manufacturers. Manufacturers began to incorporate these artificial ingredients into their products, and we’ve now grown accustomed to seeing these listed on ingredient labels (things like sodium benzoate, xantham gum, artificial flavors and more).
Although artificial chemicals enabled us to deliver cheap and abundant food throughout the world for the first time in history, we now know that these processed foods have extensive negative health impacts. Consumers and manufacturers alike want to move away from them, and are demanding ingredient labels that contain only natural, recognizable ingredients.