Evidence is mounting that what you eat, and how much you eat, affects your health. Today, more people are aware that good nutrition is an important factor in a healthy lifestyle. The problem is that figuring out what is a healthy food and what is not can be confusing.
As we become more concerned with where our food comes from and the ingredients it contains, companies have created new marketing strategies. They redesigned their food labels to reflect our desire to go as far as possible or pay a little more for healthy food. Companies began using terms like “all natural,” “no hormones,” “no artificial ingredients,” and “free range.”
As a result of all this publicity, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published definitions for many of the marketing terms, including “natural,” so that consumers would have a better idea of what they were buying. According to the USDA, foods can only be labeled natural if they contain no artificial ingredients or added colors and are minimally processed.
This definition is enforced through the Food Safety and Inspection Service, which oversees how food is produced and what is in it. They are responsible for supporting product labels with regular inspections.
The term “all natural” was the most used label on new food products in the US last year. Manufacturers wanted to cash in on last year’s $13 billion dollar natural foods market.
The main reason natural food products sell so well is that you and I believe that if a food is labeled “natural” it must be good for us. Also, we are willing to pay more if that natural food keeps us healthy.
The problem is that even with USDA regulations, the term “natural” is not well defined. There is no standard definition for the term, except for meat and poultry products, except that the product does not contain synthetic or artificial ingredients, including artificial food colors and flavors.
And a natural food may not be a healthy food either. For example, a brand of vanilla ice cream may meet the natural standard, but the product is high in calories and saturated fat. That’s not very healthy!
Right now, there is only one way to try to make sound decisions for natural food products. Read the label. The label will help you compare one product to another and tell you which natural food product, or regular food product, meets your dietary needs.