There’s nothing new about the idea of “clean label” products. I’ve been covering the food industry for nearly two decades now, and it has factored into discussions throughout that time.
In fact, the initial groundswell of societal momentum behind “clean” foods dates back to Rachel Carson’s seminal “Silent Spring” in 1962. The environmental, anti-pesticide movement that arose in the wake of its publication popularized organic—which has close ties to clean label—opening the door to state-level regulation, starting with Oregon in 1973 and eventually leading to federal regulation by USDA in 1990.