4 Ways Allowing Biotech Into The Natural Products Expo Is Harmful
This week the massive Natural Products Expo resumes after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. The show is a must-attend for any emerging brand in natural and organic foods because it’s where retail buyers go to sample what’s new and trending.
While the word “natural” has always been rather vague, it came as somewhat of a surprise when New Hope, the event’s organizer, recently explained it was letting in a new category of foods, those made with synthetic biology, also known as genetic engineering. (The industry calls the process “precision fermentation,” more on that later.)
This move is troubling for several reasons, all of which further confusion.
1. Distorting the word “natural.” For many years, the word natural has come under fire for being ill-defined. Despite calls to the Food and Drug Administration to wade in, the agency, while asking for comments on the matter, has thus far demurred. Who can blame them? It’s a minefield that has resulted in lawsuits against companies using the word to describe foods made with genetic engineering, among other challenges.
Seemingly to address this conundrum, New Hope explains that while they are letting biotech food companies exhibit at their show, the brands would not be allowed to use the word “natural” on their labels.
But does this really help? If a company is exhibiting at the Natural Products Expo, how does not using the word “natural” on labeling distinguish from the next booth over? Imagine any other show where this would make sense. Would a vegan trade allow non-vegan products in as long as they are not labeled vegan? What about a meat show?
Interestingly, the Seafood Expo has a policy of not allowing plant-based versions of seafood to exhibit at their show. We can argue about whether that’s the right decision, but they are at least showing some integrity for their category.
2. Greenwashing biotech foods. In its article attempting to explain their decision, New Hope uses all the talking points and lingo from the companies themselves, such as comparing the process to traditional fermentation such as kombucha.
But the phrase “precision fermentation” is really an attempt to distract us from the scientific terms genetic engineering and synthetic biology. Here is how scientists describe it: “Precision fermentation relies on the production of novel proteins by growing microbes on a cheap carbon source (feedstock) such as sugar. The microbial cells themselves are genetically modified to produce the desired protein in high quantities.” If this does not sound natural to you, it’s because it isn’t.
This complex process raises also many questions, including what is the feedstock exactly, and how sustainable is it really as this nascent industry scales?
3. Confusing retailers. The main purpose of any trade show is for retail and food service buyers to peruse the latest products, especially from new brands. The Natural Products Expo has its humble roots among natural retailers, but over time, the category has gone mainstream, with the show itself ballooning to over 80,000 attendees. Many of the retail buyers are from conventional stores, ranging from independent to large national chains.
To put it bluntly, many of these buyers are not sophisticated enough to be up on the latest biotechnologies deployed by Silicon Valley-funded start-ups. They are simply looking for new products they hope consumers will buy. By attending the Natural Products Expo, they are relying on event organizers to do any necessary filtering to ensure the products on display are in fact natural. By allowing products that clearly are not, New Hope is not serving retailers in an honest way.
4. Hurting legit natural brands, especially plant-based. Perhaps most important is the harm done to all the other brands that are spending many thousands of dollars on booths, staffing, and other resources to exhibit at the show. Many young brands suffered during the pandemic, especially by not having trade shows to reach buyers. It’s a slap in the face to all the companies that make the effort to source their ingredients responsibly to have to compete with start-ups that don’t share the same values.
It makes it especially hard for legitimate plant-based brands that are using organic ingredients, for example, to compete with a dairy alternative using biotechnology. Especially when biotech brands are claiming to be superior to plant-based, even as they attempt to co-opt plant-based messaging, as some do.
New Hope claims they are letting these companies exhibit in the name of “innovation” and “transparency.” But there is still a price to be paid. (New Hope said they were too busy at the show to respond to my request for comment in time.)
Natural foods veteran Alan Lewis summed it up well. The Natural Products Expo comeback “may depend on bending the definition of ‘natural’ beyond the breaking point.”
Originally posted at Forbes.
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