Cape Crystal Brands Addresses Ingredient Label Confusion Through Food Science Education
Summit, NJ - February 7, 2026 - Cape Crystal Brands, a food-science-focused ingredient company founded by food formulation consultant Edmund “Ed” McCormick, is working to address a growing disconnect between modern food labels and real-world eating experience by helping consumers better understand how ingredients function in food.
Even familiar foods can prompt a second look when the eating experience feels off. _Photo credit: _Dreamstime.com
While ingredient transparency has become a priority across the food industry, research suggests that understanding has not kept pace with interest. According to research from NSF, one in five consumers struggles to interpret nutritional information on food labels, and a majority of respondents want greater visibility into food processing and allergen information. At the same time, Innova Market Insights says seven out of ten consumers in the US and UK want to know and understand ingredients lists, highlighting the demand for ingredient clarity rather than simplification alone.
This disconnect has contributed to growing confusion around ingredient functionality, particularly as brands respond to clean label pressure by shortening ingredient lists. While these changes are often well-intentioned, they can affect texture, flavor stability, mouthfeel, and shelf life – factors that strongly influence how consumers perceive quality.
Cape Crystal Brands focuses on explaining the why behind these outcomes. The company specializes in functional ingredients used in modern cooking and clean-label food development, including hydrocolloids, emulsifiers, and stabilizers. These ingredients play essential roles in how foods behave during preparation, storage, and consumption, yet are frequently misunderstood or viewed with skepticism due to a lack of accessible food science education.
Cape Crystal Brands’ educational content explores how ingredients interact with water, fats, proteins, and temperature, and why removing or substituting certain components can result in foods that feel gritty or inconsistent even when labels appear simple or familiar.
“There’s often an assumption that fewer ingredients automatically mean better food,” said McCormick. “But when formulation decisions prioritize appearance over function, the eating experience can suffer. Food science helps explain why that happens.”
Through a growing library of food science articles and guides, Cape Crystal Brands examines common formulation challenges and ingredient misconceptions, including why some clean-label products separate, lose moisture, or become bland over time.
Topics include how emulsifiers affect flavor delivery, ingredient FAQs, sugar misconceptions, and science-based explanations for everyday kitchen phenomena. These resources are designed to support more informed reporting on food trends while serving as a practical reference for chefs, product developers, and home cooks.
By pairing ingredient access with education, Cape Crystal Brands aims to support clearer conversations around modern food formulation, helping bridge the gap between ingredient labels, scientific function, and real-world eating experience.
Additional information and educational resources are available at https://www.capecrystalbrands.com.
About Cape Crystal Brands
Cape Crystal Brands is an ingredient and education company founded in 2016 focused on practical food science literacy. Through research-driven content and small-batch ingredient sourcing, the company helps demystify formulation choices and sensory performance for professionals and curious cooks navigating modern food systems.
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