Is “Natural” the New “Organic”?

Too much choice Most people probably associate natural foods with “organic” and their natural food co-ops. To me, “natural” is similar to organic in the sense that it is free of pesticides, hormones, genetic engineering and other additives that don’t come naturally in the plant or animal. The way food was before the current industrial model when they didn’t call it natural or organic because there wasn’t an “un-natural” option back then.

A recent article on Environmental Leader points out a recent survey which shows that consumers prefer the “100% Natural” label over the “100% Organic” one by a wide margin. I wonder why “natural” is more appealing than “organic”?

While the government has very precise rules about what food can be labeled “organic”, there are few rules to govern the use of “natural”. Without standards, the term “natural” is ambiguous, confusing to consumers, and risks the lack of truthful labeling by some companies.

Natural… But what does it really mean? Maybe this old cartoon sums it up?