The Food and Drug Administration is seeking for public opinion on how to define the term "natural" on food labels. The government opened a 90-day comment period, comments can be submitted electronically, after increasing demands from people for more transparency about what we're eating.
Disagreements and discrepancies food products labeled "natural" have given birth to numerous lawsuits and complaints as more and more consumers continue to challenge just how "natural" are natural-labeled food products.
The move is in response to three citizen petitions asking that the agency define the term "natural" for use in food labeling and one citizen petition asking that the FDA prohibit the term "natural" on food labels.
The agency's past guidance did not address the inclusion of genetically modified organisms in products labeled as natural, as well as a range of other factors that consumers may not associate with natural products. The agency's action in this area ultimately may be dictated by federal GM labeling legislation, namely, the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015, which was passed by the House (H.R. 1599) in July 2015 and which would require FDA to define the term "natural" for use on food labels.
The agency's informal policy on natural-labeled products states that "the food does not contain added color, artificial flavors, or synthetic substances". FDA made the decision to accept public comment after several petitions and the request by Federal Courts, due to litigations between private parties, for the determination about "whether food products containing ingredients produced using genetic engineering or foods containing high fructose corn syrup may be labeled as "natural". "That said, FDA has not developed a definition for use of the term natural or its derivatives".
Regarding its previous stance toward natural, FDA explained, "this policy was not meant 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".
If the FDA were to create a more strict, more comprehensive definition, it would give manufacturers a lot more guidance on whether or not they could use the term "natural" on their food products
Artificial ingredients weren't always taboo. Food historian Nadia Berenstein said in the early 1900s when food contamination was rampant, consumers responded positively to the idea of manufactured food.
"The fact that the food was made in the factory by a big company was a thing that guaranteed in consumer's minds that it was safe, that it was modern, that is was scientific," Berenstein said.
Now some major food companies say they're taking artificial coloring and flavors out of their products and they're already swapping artificial ingredients for more natural alternatives. Campbell's, Hershey's, and Kellogg's are just part of the growing list.
In the long run, this could end up being an incredibly important food-labeling change. In the meantime, though, let this serve as your regular reminder: "Natural" food isn't always "natural".
