Mythbusters

Healthy vs. “Natural”

In the ever-growing quest to eat healthfully, shoppers are going natural. And so are food manufacturers. According to a food marketing report, new food and drink products in 2008 were more likely to proclaim themselves “natural” than make any other claim – the term appeared on nearly a quarter of all food and drink launches.

But the word “natural” splashed across a food label doesn’t necessary translate into nutritious or healthy. So what’s a consumer to do? Read on.

The Natural! The All Natural! And the 100% Natural!!!

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the use of the word “natural” on food labels (except for meat and poultry, which are regulated by the USDA – see below.) But the regulations are vague: According to the FDA, “natural” means a product does not contain synthetic or artificial ingredients. Except when it’s applied to meat and poultry products, the term “natural” is not verified by government codes and food manufacturers can decide when to use it.

Some examples of “natural” ingredients include:

• salt
• sugar
• fructose, the sugar found in fruit
• high-fructose corn syrup: Although controversial, current FDA regulations allow a label of “natural” as long as the high fructose corn syrup is produced without adding synthetic ingredients.
• colorings: if they are derived from a plant or animal source

Natural vs. the Organics

Unlike the term “natural,” there are strict, USDA-regulated rules for foods labeled “organic.” The type of “organic” label depends upon the percent of ingredients that follow the organic standard. The label and many other factors may influence whether you buy “organic.”

Meats and poultry are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). When it comes to using the word “natural” with these foods, the claim relates to how the animal products are processed. The USDA requires that any meat labeled with the word “natural” be minimally processed without adding artificial ingredients, such as flavors, colors and preservatives.

Natural meats can include:

• dried beef stock
• yeast
• partially broken down proteins, such as hydrolyzed soy protein
• Some processed meats: A meat can’t contain preservatives like nitrites and nitrates and bear the “natural” claim. But the processes of smoking and salting, which may also be linked to increased cancer risk, do not add synthetic ingredients, and thus are considered “natural.”

From Natural to Healthy

So “natural” does not necessarily mean nutritious. But busy shoppers can glean a lot of nutritional information from regulated health claims, which include:

• “Healthy” – specific limits on the amount of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium: Also, the food supplies a significant amount of at least one important nutrient.
• “Low in saturated fat” – no more than 1 gram per serving
• “Reduced saturated fat” – at least 25% lower than the original product of the same brand
• “Low sodium” – no more than 140 milligrams of sodium per serving
• “Reduced sodium” – a least 25% lower sodium than found in the original product of the same brand
• “Free” – contains no or trivial amounts of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, sugars, and calories. For example, "sugar-free" and "fat-free" both mean less than 0.5 g per serving.

Beyond the Claims: Shop Smart

Food claims can help shoppers make healthy choices but there’s no substitute for looking at the ingredients and nutrition label.

If you want a food low in sodium, the Nutrition Facts panel lets you know how much sodium each serving contains. If you want to add more whole grains to your diet, look for a whole grain among the first few ingredients. (If you see the word "enriched," then the product may not contains whole grains; look for the term “whole,” such as whole grain or other whole grains such as oats.)

Reading through the ingredients can also help if you’re trying to cut down on sugar or avoid high-fructose corn syrup. Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight, which means if sugar is listed in the first few ingredients, there’s relatively a lot of sugar.

For anyone who needs a cheat sheet for the Nutrition Facts panel – and who doesn’t? – find out what all the numbers mean with AICR’s Guide to the Nutrition Facts Label.