Most consumers believe that food and beverage manufacturers should declare if a product has been made with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), new research shows.
In a survey commissioned by Ingredient Communications and conducted by SurveyGoo, 83 % of respondents agreed that companies should declare on a product’s label if it has been designed or manufactured with the help of AI technology.1 More than half of all those surveyed – 55 % – agreed with this assertion strongly and only 4 % disagreed with it altogether.
Nearly two thirds of respondents (64 %) said they believed that food and beverage products made with the help of AI technology should not be described as ‘natural’ – with 12 % disagreeing with this. There was also strong support for regulation, with 78 % of respondents agreeing that the Government should introduce laws controlling the ways food and drink companies can use AI technology to design and manufacture their products. Just 6 % disagreed with this.
A majority of respondents (52 %) agreed with the general point that AI technology is a positive development that will benefit humanity, with 21 % disagreeing. However, when asked how they felt about the use of AI specifically to design and produce food and beverage products, fewer respondents (42 %) said they felt positively about this, with 27 % saying they felt negatively.
Just under half of respondents (44 %) said they believed that a food or beverage product made with the help of AI might be less safe to consume. However, they were split on whether they would be more or less likely to buy a food or beverage product made with the help of AI. Just over a quarter (26 %) said they would be more likely to do so, with 29 % stating they would be less likely.
The survey also revealed a distinct generational split. A majority of Generation Z and Millennial respondents felt positively about the use of AI in the food industry (65 % and 57 %, respectively). The corresponding figure among Generation X and Boomers was markedly lower – 44 % and 25 %, respectively.
Richard Clarke, Managing Director of Ingredient Communications, commented: “Many food and beverage companies have rushed to embrace the benefits of AI technology but it’s important they take care to consider how consumers feel about this. We’ve seen a huge backlash against AI in the arts and entertainment business. To avoid the same fate, food and beverage manufacturers should pause to reflect on whether they are being sufficiently transparent about their use of AI.”
He continued: “As we saw 30 years ago with the furore over the safety of genetically modified crops, it’s easy for misinformation to spread and stir up fear. Food and beverage companies would be wise to implement a communications strategy to ensure the public is kept informed about the ways in which they harness the power of AI tech.”
Other takeaways from the survey included 79 % of respondents agreeing that savings made by food and beverage companies through the use of AI should be passed on to shoppers in the form of lower retail prices.
However, sentiment shifted if this came at the expense of employment, with 40 % considering it unacceptable if the use of AI technology to design and manufacture a food or beverage product meant somebody lost their job – even products were cheaper as a result. A third of respondents (33 %) considered this an acceptable outcome.
1Online survey of 1,040 consumers in UK and USA, conducted October 2024
Leading botanical extracts company to produce pharmaceutical grade CBD for the international market, using Italian biomass
Indena, a leading Italian company in international markets, has been authorised by the Italian Ministry of Health and Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) to produce cannabinoid-based cannabis extracts. Indena will produce pharmaceutical grade cannabidiol (CBD) for the global market for clinical and commercial use.
Indena is the first company in Italy to receive authorisation from the Ministry of Health to manufacture cannabinoid-based cannabis extracts. The approval process continued and Indena has also received authorisation from the AIFA, making it one of the few companies in the world able to produce cannabidiol (CBD) for the pharmaceutical market. CBD is an active ingredient obtained by extraction and isolation from the inflorescences and aerial parts of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.).
With its 100 years of experience in the production of high-end botanical extracts, Indena is well placed to produce high purity CBD. The raw material will be grown and processed in Italy. The supply chain, which complies with the strict criteria set out in the Italian regulations, is controlled, certified and fully traced by the company. Indena’s traditional rigour in managing the production chain was a key factor in obtaining authorisation.
Indena uses registered varieties of hemp with a THC level of less than 0.2 % in accordance with European standards. It also guarantees a residual THC content of less than 0.02 %, well below the limits defined by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and by DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). This approach enabled Indena to promptly submit the DMF (Drug Master File) for this product to the FDA.
“We have been working a long time for this outcome. It is the result of an intense and fruitful collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the AIFA, for the construction of a rigorous approval process to guarantee the safety and control of production, both of the raw material and of the active principle”, says Stefano Togni, Corporate Director for Business Development and Licensing of Indena SpA. “We are aiming at the international pharmaceutical markets. As an Italian company, we are proud to be able to make this totally Italian product of the highest quality available globally, an ingredient expected all over the world for its beneficial effects on a number of pathologies”.
The hemp biomass used by Indena is processed in a pharmaceutical plant that is regularly authorised by AIFA and inspected by the main international regulatory agencies (FDA, KFDA, PMDA and others). All production is carried out in compliance with pharmaceutical GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices), in line with the highest quality standards that the company has always applied which have been recognised by the international scientific community and consolidated over 100 years of business.
Cannabidiol (CBD) is an active pharmaceutical ingredient whose use is approved for seizures associated with some rare forms of childhood epilepsy (Lennox-Gastaud syndrome, Dravet syndrome and tuberous sclerosis complex), and in clinical development for other forms of epilepsy. Furthermore CBD is under clinical investigation for schizophrenia, and for its therapeutic potential in other psychiatric disorders, neurological or autoimmune/inflammatory based diseases1.
Once again, Indena’s focus on quality, scientific rigour and innovation has enabled it to receive recognition from Italy’s top pharmaceutical regulatory institutions. This will enable the company to produce an active principle for which there has been market demand for some time.
1C. Michael White, PharmD, A Review of Human Studies Assessing Cannabidiol’s (CBD) Therapeutic Actions and Potential, J Clin Pharmacol 2019, 59(7), 923-934.
