What does it mean natural to the grocery label?

In the 90s, when more and more consumers were interested in the source of their food and products in it, many companies began to reconsider their practices and rework their food labels to reflect it. With the increasing number of companies using terms such as "all natural", "free hormones" and "free scope", the Ministry of Agriculture of the United States (USDA) began to realize that some labels could be necessary to be sure of what they buy. As a result, USDA has published a definition for many of the terms used, including "natural". According to USDA, this service agency is responsible for backup defined receivables on labels, such as "natural" with regular inspection, remedy and fines if necessary. USDA believes that this is a valuable service for Consumers, which are somewhat amazed by a wide range of tags for food labels.

According to USDA, food can only be marked natural if it does not contain any artificial ingredients or atof the colors and is at least processed. Furthermore, the label must clearly explain this definition, so consumers are not introduced by a "natural" label. Although this label is an important step in the right direction, many consumers are more interested in what a natural label does not mean.

For example, animal products raised using artificial hormones can be described natural. Likewise, genetically modified organisms. Most importantly, natural does not mean organic, although many companies want consumers to think. Organic foods have a strict set of requirements, principles and procedures that need to be followed for certification. These requirements are much more explanations and in depth than the definition of a single paragraph used for "natural".

Some companies that cannot afford ecological certification may decide to use USDA to define their product. For exampleUSDA also defines the use of hormone and antibiotics. The company could indicate a product that suggests that it has met the conditions for natural, hormonal and without antibiotics without antibiotics. However, this method is imperfect, because many things that are definitely not organic could comfortably fall into all these categories.

Food labeling is a very complex and growing problem in the United States, and consumers are demanding sustainable foods and companies that desire to supply them, or at least lead consumers to the belief that they are buying healthy products. Consumers are advised to read the entire label on a natural product marked to see what else could contain.