Clean Label Trends for Manufacturers in 2026

Clean label used to mean a short ingredient list. In 2026 it means a checkable one: EU rules applying from September 2026 strip legal cover from generic, unsubstantiated claims; retailers push due diligence upstream into supplier questionnaires; AI-mediated search corroborates claims against independent records before repeating them. The common thread is that assertion is losing value and verification is gaining it — which is what independent certification, issuing a certificate any buyer can check for themselves, is for.