Last week the FDA announced that is is requesting comments on the use of the term “natural” on food labeling.
Currently there is no legal definition of “natural,” though it is used on many labels and even for whole groups of products such as “the natural foods industry” and the “natural cosmetics industry.”
I have always thought “natural” means there are no artificial ingredients in the product, such as artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. But it has never referred to the basic food ingredients themselves. So I product can be labeled “natural” but still have pesticides and other artificial and toxic chemicals on the basic food ingredients.
Now some are saying that GMO foods should be allowed to be called “natural.”
The FDA stated
Although the FDA has not engaged in rulemaking to establish a formal definition for the term “natural,” we do have a longstanding policy concerning the use of “natural” in human food labeling. The FDA has considered the term “natural” to mean that nothing artificial or synthetic (including all color additives regardless of source) has been included in, or has been added to, a food that would not normally be expected to be in that food. However, this policy was not intended to address food production methods, such as the use of pesticides, nor did it explicitly address food processing or manufacturing methods, such as thermal technologies, pasteurization, or irradiation.
Since the FDA is asking for our opinion, I gave some thought to this, this morning.
The term “natural” related to foods began to be used I think in the 1970’s, as a way to distinguish foods with additives from foods without additives. I remember this. At the time, consumers were beginning to be concerned about artificial colors and flavors and preservatives, just as we are now concerned about GMOs. There was just no awareness of pesticides on foods. And so “natural” made sense because there was the basic food supply and then there were these additives and “natural” meant that the foods didn’t contain these additives.
It wasn’t until much later that the term “organic” began to be used, first by small local certifiers that wanted to distinguish their foods from those with pesticides. Eventually the organic certification and labeling became the National Organic Program that we have today, with the USDA Certified Organic seal. This goes far beyond what “natural” ever intended.
GMOs are a whole other category. Since “natural” doesn’t address the food itself, but only the lack of additives, a “natural” food could be GMO without additives.
But the term “natural” also has another use with regards to products.
“Natural” can also mean that the base materials used come from nature. A natural food, for example, would basically be an apple or a pig and the like. A natural cosmetic would have all it’s materials come from nature, and no synthetics. Natural fibers would be cotton, linen, silk, etc, and not polyester. However, it did not include how these materials from nature instead of a factory were grown or processed. So you could have natural cotton with pesticides and toxic dyes and finishes and it would still be called “natural.”
Ideally what we need and want is a natural material in it’s natural state. An apple should not have pesticides or waxes. It should just be an apple and nothing else. Just apple as nature intended. No pesticides. No GMO alterations. Just Mother’s Nature’s apple.
And we already have a label for that: “organic.”
It’s fine with me if “natural” is used as described above. The problem is that most consumers don’t understand the terminology.
I don’t think “natural” need to be redefined, I think more people need to understand where it comes from and how it’s commonly understood in our culture.
“Natural” can distinguish materials made by nature from industrial materials made by man. “Organic” can be used to distinguish those natural materials in their natural state, uncontaminated by synthetic materials in growing or processing.
Those are the current definition in common use, they just are not widely known.
I do think, per the FTC “Green Guides,” that if the term “natural” is used, it should be further defined on the label or webpage, as it could be false and misleading without further explanation.
