Beware the word "natural"
Posted by kathryn in Food Labelling and Food & Health Myths
In the world of food and health marketing “natural” is a well favoured world. Labels claim “natural goodness for the whole family”, “made from natural ingredients” and “fresh and natural”. There are “natural living” eggs and supplements promoted as the natural way to health. In a Choice survey 86% of people were influenced by the word “natural”.
But, in the labelling world “natural” doesn’t actually mean anything. While it gives the impression that food is unprocessed and doesn’t contain artificial colours or preservatives, there’s no guarantee this is the case. “Natural” has no legal definition here in Australia and there are no limitations on its use.
- Products containing “natural preservatives” can still be full of compounds made in the lab.
- “Natural” foods can be heavily processed
- “Natural ingredients” can still include some very un-natural stuff
In the health arena, particularly in my industry, the word “natural” is used frequently and liberally. However natural health alternatives are not always better and they’re not always safer.
Read labels, ignore the hype and make your own decisions.
Q & A Thursday Reminder
Tomorrow is Q & A Thursday, so send me your food, diet and health related questions, either by leaving a comment or sending me an email.
29 August, 2007
Comments
Great topic. So, so true. Whilst the term ‘natural’ is thrown around, it is so often abused within the health and wellness industry. Coincidentally, food labelling was the topic of discussion in one of our meetings this week. Interestingly, the food labelling laws haven’t been changed since… 2003 I think. I could be wrong on that, plus or minus a couple of years. All I know is that it has been a few since it’s been changed. Food labelling is largely self-regulated, with manufacturers being responsible for ensuring that the ingredients, ‘natural’ or otherwise, match up with what gets stamped on the package. The recent case of Ribena should highlight the implications for misinformation about correct labelling (http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/ribena-to-withdraw-vitamin-c-claims/2007/03/21/1174153159423.html). Four times the vitamin C of oranges? Uh oh… But it’s alright… because it’s ‘natural’; naturally high in sugar! Though perhaps the Light version ok? At times, you do need a dictionary to decipher the labels on some foods, but this might shine some light on the matter: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/thecode/assistanceforindustry/userguides/index.cfm. At the end of the day, a good rule of thumb is the least preservatives the better. If you see a packet of so-called ‘natural’ almonds hanging around in the supermarket, turn the packet around to see what ingredients are inside. If you notice that aside from almonds, there is preservative X, Y, and a couple of Zs in there, then perhaps it’s not such a good buy. The same goes for yoghurt. Natural strawberry yoghurt? Check exactly what amount of strawberries are in that ‘natural’ strawberry yoghurt, or if it uses colours or strawberry flavours to enhance its ‘naturalness’.
Ok, off my high horse. It’s not a sceptics game, but it is useful to be aware. Really, you want to make sure you’re getting what you think you’re paying for.
Paul, you’re right that the last major change to the Food Standards Code was 2003. In terms of government policy, this is still regarded as recently! The 2003 changes included some important steps, eg the directive to list percentage of ingredients on the label, but it also included some compromises – eg the standard “recipe” for some foodstuffs was watered down.
While this was the last major review, tweaks are still going on – for example the requirements for using the word “wholegrains” on a packet.
While Ribena were eventually caught out, they’d been making those claims for years and it took two schoolgirls to pull them back into line. I’ve blogged about this story before (here, here and here). Lack of resources makes it too hard for FSANZ to follow up on everything, meaning food manufacturers are able to get away with a lot. Choice frequently highlight food labelling tricks and are a useful resource.
Along with “natural”, it’s best to ignore “fresh”, “pure”, “real”, “gourmet”, “premium” and “home-made”.
Thanks for your comment
Yeah, they’re some more great adjectives to be wary of. And yes, Choice is a great place to access independent, unbiased information.
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