Catalina Food Solutions has expanded its range of natural ingredients, positioning the launch as a direct response to processor demand for more transparent, clean label foods.

The Spanish biotech ingredients supplier is targeting the reformulation challenges reshaping meat, fish and broader food categories: texture, shelf life, food safety, yield and naturalness.

A range built around reformulation

The expanded portfolio spans three core areas. On texture and yield, the company offers functional systems of natural origin designed to improve texture and boost yield by removing phosphates. On preservation, it has developed solutions for extended shelf life without chemical preservatives, aimed at maintaining food safety, stability and quality. And on food safety specifically, its microbiological control solutions are designed to strengthen product safety and help inhibit the growth of microorganisms such as Listeria monocytogenes, deployed as part of an integrated strategy spanning hygiene, processing, preservation and industrial validation.

The standout addition is nitrite-free. For real, developed for truly nitrite-free meat products without using synthetic or vegetable sources of nitrate or nitrite. Catalina is pitching it squarely at bacon, cooked ham, sausages, cured meats and marinated products — categories where “no added nitrites” claims have drawn increasing scrutiny.

Nitrites under the microscope

The company frames the launch against a wider transparency debate playing out on both sides of the Atlantic. In the UK, organisations such as SAFE, a member of the Coalition Against Nitrites, have warned about the use of claims such as “uncured” or “no added nitrites” — a signal that this segment of the market is under active examination even as demand for nitrite-free products grows.

That demand shift is already showing up in sales data. Nitrite-cured bacon fell 7.3% in value during the 12 weeks prior to 25 January, compared with the same period the previous year, while nitrite-free alternatives grew 21.7% over the same period, according to Worldpanel by Numerator.

In the US, Catalina points to the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative as a parallel driver, noting that the movement has placed ultra-processed foods, additives, children’s health and reformulation at the centre of the conversation. The company cites the May 2025 MAHA report’s finding that around 70% of branded food products in US supermarkets are ultra-processed, alongside the April 2025 HHS and FDA measures to phase out petroleum-based synthetic food dyes.

Positioning as a technical partner

“The market is moving towards products with clearer labels, more understandable ingredients and natural solutions that perform under real industrial conditions. Our goal is to support manufacturers throughout this transition, offering ingredients that enable reformulation without compromising safety, quality or the final product’s sensory experience,” said Federico Vera, technical director at Catalina Food Solutions.

The company is leaning on its in-house model as a differentiator. As a manufacturer and fermenter of natural ingredients, Catalina says it controls innovation, production and quality across its solutions, rather than relying on third-party sourcing — a structure it says supports its positioning as a technical partner to meat, fish and other food manufacturers navigating shelf life, texture, flavour, preservation, yield, naturalness and clean labelling requirements simultaneously.

What It Means

Catalina’s timing lines up two regulatory and consumer pressure points — UK scrutiny of nitrite-free labelling claims and US momentum against ultra-processed ingredients — into a single ingredients pitch. Suppliers can address multiple reformulation pain points (texture, shelf life, microbial safety) under one roof are angling to become the default technical partner as clean label requirements stack up across markets, rather than being brought in for single-ingredient swaps.