Thanksgiving Day is considered to be one of the most holidays in America.During this time, you can only expect nothing but the best food. Of course, what's Thanksgiving without the star of the show? Yes, your turkey will surely be basking in the middle of your dinner table.
Although it has become a tradition for almost every American family to have turkey for dinner, shopping for one never gets easy.These days, shoppers like you have a hard time figuring out the options for a "free' meat is: cage-free, antibiotic free, and the like. You'll also need to figure out the difference between natural and organic. Then, there's the question of whether the turkey was raised humanely, something that most of us don't have an answer to.
However, a study last year by Consumer Report revealed that most consumers don't really understand what the label on the food implies. Researchers explained that between 49 to 59 percent of shoppers get blown away by the words: "organic", "natural", and "no artificial growth hormones" on the product.
Daisy Freund, director of farm animal welfare at the American Society for the Prevention of the Cruelty of Animals explained that though these labels don't actually provide customers with detailed information about the kind of live the animal had, they still get excited by their purchase knowing that it has that "natural" label stuck on it.
Most turkey in the United States are raised for one sole reason; FOOD. They are usually found living in an unhealthy conditions that we, the customers, can't even imagine. But by the time these birds' meat reaches the supermarket, all we do is rely on very unclear words.
"Natural", the most common vague word 59% of consumers look for when they shop for food. According to Consumer Reports, 70% of shoppers are correct about the meat not having any artificial ingredients on it. However, the part of the description claiming that the feeds given to the animals don't contain genetically modified organisms or artificial ingredients, and that there were no growth hormones used are not necessarily true.
Food that are considered as organic are produced, manufactured and handled, certified by the United States Department of Agriculture. They are free from chemicals, preservatives and not grown using pesticides. You can be sure of food that's labelled organic because they are monitored by the government. Natural, on the other hand, are still synthesized, although minimally. You can't find any government agency monitoring these products as well.
