Some of you are familiar with the bottled drink known as "Skinnygirl Margarita." Until recently it was sold in Whole Foods, but in September was pulled off the shelves due to a claim that is contained an ingredient that is "unnatural," sodium benzoate, which is a common (although synthesized in a lab) food preservative. Sodium benzoate is in a large majority of preserved foods and drinks.
What in the heck is natural?? Does anyone know? Does the FDA have a definition for it and do they regulate the use of that word? Um, no. They have largely declined to define the term. "With the few precious dollars the FDA has, we largely choose to focus on topics that affect public safety. The 'natural' issue doesn't. That's not to say it's not important, but we frankly have more pressing issues to deal with."
When I type "natural food" into google images, I get the following images:
To me, this means that most people think of fresh fruits and vegetables as natural. But does that preclude other foods or drinks from being in that category as well? Are we misinforming our consumers if we label something as "natural," since we don't have a hard and fast rule on just what that means?
To me, natural means that the food product does not have any GMO or heavily processed additives. -Tony M.
ReplyDeleteThis has been one of the most frustrating issues I have had to deal with over the past couple of years. I found out I was allergic to yeast two years ago and over the summer found out I was allergic to corn, wheat and soy as well. Corn is in everything. It is in your toothpaste and is in the wax coating of the fruit you buy at the store. I try to buy "all natural" foods but then when I read the labels I immediately recognize products that are derived from corn. It is even in purified bottled water. Calcium carbonate, a "mineral" to purify water is actually corn. Its hard to trust the food industry when everything is false. Even chicken and honey, because the farmers and bee keepers are feeding the chickens and bee's corn as food because it is cheaper. So at the end of the day, I am literally allergic to everything. I think the only way to have any "all natural" food is to make it from scratch. -Brittany C.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is frustrating that there is no definition provided by the food industry for "natural." As consumers we are being misinformed and mislead. This is not fair and I believe that stronger rules need to be enforced. Also, I think better definitions need to be available to the public so we can more easily define "all natural" foods and make our judgment from the definition since the FDA "has more pressing issues to deal with."
ReplyDeleteThis also goes with the question .....what is organic?! The organic food market is confusing and frustrating as well. There seems to be a lot of pressing issues that the FDA is unable to focus on. This needs to change. Labels shouldn't be allowed to lie and it is important for people to know what they are putting into their bodies because this is a huge matter affecting "public safety."
In the past, whenever I saw the word "natural" labelled on a product, I used to think it was made with naturally grown food without any preservatives or food enhancements. After watching the movie "Food Inc." for my business and society class, I did learn that most corn and soybean are in fact genetically modified, and what makes things worst is that corn is actually pretty much in most things we eat and use. I don't think its fair for the FDA to ignore this issue or even choose to not define "natural" because it affects us all as it remains unregulated. -Isabelle A.
ReplyDeleteI think the best way to approach this as a consumer is to remember that keywords like "natural" are simply used as a marketing tool. The best thing we can do as health-conscious consumers is research what ingredients we should stay away from, take the time to read the fine print and ingredients on food labels, and stay informed. Unfortunately, most foods sans corn or GMO's or processed additives (products stores, such as Whole Foods, try to avoid) are more expensive than foods you would find at a regular grocery store whose demographics are the masses. However, it's worth it if you can afford it. Your health is an investment - if you put in the time and money to be healthy, you won't have to make the time to be sick.
ReplyDeleteI agree Kathleen when she says that the best we can do it’s to think that companies are using the word “natural” as a marketing claim.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know American Law, but in 2001 Europe establishes that words like “ECO” or “ecological” could only be labeled to a product whose ingredients, the food used to feed animals or the product itself have been obtained through a ecological production. Only if they meet the requirements, they can put the “ecological” or "ECO" word into their labeling or advertising.
For us “ecological” products are those that do not contain additives, pesticide or GMO. Ecological is different from organic and there is nothing said about the “natural” word.
Since 2004, there is also a law in Spain that says that all products that contain any GMO component have to be shown in the label as GMO.
I personally think that American Consumer Organizations should claim similar laws to give the choice to buy the different kinds of products to the end customer. As a consumer, I would like to know what I’m buying and where it comes from.
The term “natural” adds a premium to food products and makes them appear fresher, minimally processed, and safer. But consumers and the food industry will have to wait to know exactly what natural does or really is or not—mean. It is hard to know what is Natural is now days and Consumers are misled. I believe The American people including myself have failed to notice what the food industry is doing.- Diego Navarro
ReplyDeleteI know for me, as a consumer I always try and think health conciously at the grocery store whenever possible and I tend to migrate to the products that are labeled "natural" "organic" etc because we FEEL and BELIEVE that these products are better for us, although sometimes they are not. Marketers are very deceptive in doing this because they know that it works as I can personally vouch for this. A lot of the "natural" and "organic" products actually contain a lot of sugar, which is a leading proponent of weight gain. It's really hard as a consumer (and even moreso if you're completely uneducated about the items) to differentiate what's actually natural from what is quote on quote natural. I'm glad to see the Whole Foods is sticking to their mission and values and immediately pulled Skinny Girl Margaritas off the shelf when it was discovered that there were unnatural ingredients in the drink. It's good to know that some people/companies are still honest and care. -Sarah Tullgren
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