Radical transparency: food labeling, taste, and the food citizen

Abstract

ABSTRACT In recent years, radical transparency has become an increasingly popular buzzword in food industry circles. Among other things, radical transparency means taking an “open kitchen approach” to clearly communicate to consumers what is in their products so that informed decisions can be made. Also known as the clean label trend, the idea of transparency in food labeling has varied expression. Transparency is core to Health Canada’s current initiative to update information on food labels and also to Big Food’s scannable QR code, known as the Smart Label. It underpins Unilever’s Real Food Movement, Kraft’s What’s in my Food? campaign, and Hershey’s Commitment to Simple campaign. Yet industry and government food transparency initiatives have different logics, and this Provocation unveils how radical transparency in food packaging has varying implications for taste, individual practices, and the richly sensorial aspects of food.