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?
