Should I Pay More For "Natural" Foods?

What does "all natural" mean on labels?

Walking down the grocery store aisle I see many different colors, shapes, sizes, and words. Red fruits, green vegetables, brown bags. Now for the boxed aisle. The colors are a rainbow, somehow they got them all. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, black, violet, brown. There are so many words and labels on every box/container/bag I see. Buy me! No, buy me! Noo, buy ME! Weird, they all seem to see they are "natural".

What does "natural" mean?

-Come from the ground natural?

-Not made in a lab natural?

-Organic natural?

-No artificial ingredients natural?

-Good for me natural?

-Will help me lose weight natural?

-No preservatives natural?

-GMO free natural?

-High fiber/vitamins and low sugar/sodium natural?

-No added sugars like high fructose corn syrup natural?

WHAT DOES "NATURAL" MEAN?

Great question, nobody knows.

Well the FDA defines "natural" to exclude artificial or synthetic in or added to a food that is not typically there. Color additives are also not considered "natural". Currently, this definition does not include food production methods, pesticide use, specific food processing, or manufacturing (thermal technologies, pasteurization, or irradiation).

There is no REAL meaning to the word yet and petitions from Consumer Reports have been started to reach out the FDA to help define the word for the public.

Basically because there are not many regulations around the word "natural", many companies have taken their own approach on using this phrase on their foods. Creating a fallacy to the consumer that the product is better in nutritional value, healthier, or does not include artificial ingredients.

So do not worry, we do not have to pay extra for produce, packaged foods, meats, poultry, and eggs, with "natural" on the label because most of the time, these products are not better, healthier, or organic. Pesticides, GMOs, preservatives, artificial colors, ect., are still in these products.

FYI, the answer to all the above questions is NO.

CHALLENGE: Next time you go through the grocery aisle, count how many times you see "natural" on any product packaging. Check in the packaged food, dairy, meat, frozen, fruit, canned, and even candy aisle.

Save some money, and ignore "natural" on labels, or at least until there is a clear definition. Not defined by big food companies.

Instead, find foods with certified labels such as:

-Organic

-Fair trade

Thank you for reading!

*Reminder* I am not a doctor. This is not medical advice. Please refer to your medical practitioner for details pertaining to your specific health.