When it comes to healthy living, organic should be the first choice. But since there are times when it is not an option, people choose natural labeled food instead. Natural foods are known to undergo through limited processes and are not made of chemicals and artificial flavors. However, some foods labeled "natural" consist of heavily processed substances such as sweeteners. Since in America, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn't have a strict decree when it comes to 'natural"-labeled foods, many buyers may be misled by food companies that label highly processed foods as natural.
Some of these foods are in this list.
Vegetable Oils - According to Wellness Mama, Vegetable oils came from seeds like rapeseed, soybean, corn, sunflower, and safflower. But compared to coconut oil or butter, vegetable oils cannot be produced through the natural process of extraction but undergo the chemical process of pressing, freshening and altering. Thus, though they are endorsed as healthy food, they can't be natural.
Vegetable Chips - Though they sound healthy since they are made of vegetables, may not as nutritious as they presumed to be. Most of the vegetable chips sold in the market are made of flour and potato and only a small amount of real vegetables. They were also unnaturally processed which diminishes both Vitamins A and C originating from the vegetables used.
Cold cuts - Some of the deli sold in the market were produced from inorganic substances. According to Dr. Josh Axe , natural medicine doctor and clinical nutritionist, "Most deli meats come from sectioned and restructured cuts of meat that are bound together using non-meat additives, emulsions, fillers, and usually lots of sodium. Unless specifically noted, cold cuts are also very likely to contain sodium nitrite, which helps prevent the growth of bacteria but, unfortunately, has also been associated with cancer."
Granola bars - This can be considered a healthy energy booster snack but most of them were made of heavily processed ingredients such cellulose, rice flour, coloring, mysterious "natural flavors," and added sugar.
Thus food labeling can be deceptive and not all natural-labeled foods should be considered natural.
