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Natural food and all-natural food are terms in food labeling and marketing with several definitions, often implying foods that are not manufactured by processing. In some countries like the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
, the term "natural" is defined and regulated; in others, such as the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, the term ''natural'' is not enforced for food labels, although there is
USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...
regulation of
organic Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...
labeling. The term is assumed to describe foods having ingredients that are intrinsic to an unprocessed food.


Diverse definitions

While almost all foodstuffs are derived from the natural products of plants and animals, 'natural foods' are often assumed to be foods that are not processed, or do not contain any
food additive Food additives are substances added to food to preserve Taste, flavor or enhance taste, appearance, or other sensory qualities. Some additives have been used for centuries as part of an effort to preserve food, for example vinegar (pickling), sal ...
s, or do not contain particular additives such as
hormone A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones are required ...
s,
antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention ...
s, sweeteners, food colors,
preservatives A preservative is a substance or a chemical that is added to products such as food products, beverages, pharmaceutical drugs, paints, biological samples, cosmetics, wood, and many other products to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or by ...
, or
flavorings A flavoring (or flavouring), also known as flavor (or flavour) or flavorant, is a food additive used to improve the taste or smell of food. It changes the perceptual impression of food as determined primarily by the chemoreceptors of the gustato ...
that were not originally in the food. In fact, many people (63%) when surveyed showed a preference for products labeled "natural" compared to the unmarked counterparts, based on the common belief (86% of polled consumers) that the term "natural" indicated that the food does not contain any artificial ingredients. The term is variously misused on labels and in advertisements. The international
Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
's ''
Codex Alimentarius The Codex Alimentarius () is a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines, and other recommendations published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations relating to food, food productio ...
'' does not recognize the term 'natural' but does have a standard for
organic food Organic food, ecological food or biological food are food and drinks produced by methods complying with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming features practices that cycle resources, promote ecological ...
s.


History

The idea of eating "natural foods" was promoted by cookbook writers in the United States during the 1970s with cookbooks emphasizing "natural," "health" and "whole" foods in opposition to processed foods which were considered bad for health.Elias, Megan J. (2017). ''Food on the Page Cookbooks and American Culture''. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 173–176. In 1971, Eleanor Levitt authored ''The Wonderful World of Natural Food Cookery'' which dismissed processed foods such as readymade dinners, cookie mixes, and cold cuts as being full of preservatives and other "chemical poisons." Jean Hewitt authored the ''New York Times Natural Foods Cookbook'', an influential cookbook on the use of natural foods. Hewitt suggested that before large-scale mechanized farming and modern food production methods, people ate "fresh, natural and unrefined foods for granted" and but have since abandoned this way of eating for highly processed foods which are devoid of flavor and nutrition. Hewitt's cookbook offered "the textures, tastes and nutritional benefits of the natural, fresh foods that grandmother knew" and dedicated the recipes to "the thousands of people across the country who believe in, and practice, the natural way of eating for good health".


Definition by process and by product


United Kingdom

In the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
, the
Food Standards Agency The Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to food in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is led by a board ap ...
has published criteria for the use of several terms in food labeling. The
guidance Guidance may refer to: Arts and media * Guidance (album), ''Guidance'' (album), by American instrumental rock band Russian Circles * Guidance (film), ''Guidance'' (film), a Canadian comedy film released in 2014 * Guidance (web series), ''Guidance ...
, in general, restricts the use of natural foods that have "ingredients produced by nature, not the work of man or interfered with by man." Natural flavorings are explicitly defined by separate laws. There are different standards for various types of food, such as
dairy products Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, nanny goat, and ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food items in ...
. It also gives standards for some food processing techniques, such as
fermentation Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food p ...
or
pasteurization Pasteurization or pasteurisation is a process of food preservation in which packaged and non-packaged foods (such as milk and fruit juices) are treated with mild heat, usually to less than , to eliminate pathogens and extend shelf life. ...
. The standard explicitly rules out "foods derived from novel processes, GM or cloning."


Definition by process only


Canada

The
Canadian Food Inspection Agency The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA; french: Agence canadienne d'inspection des aliments) is a regulatory agency that is dedicated to the safeguarding of food, plants, and animals (FPA) in Canada, thus enhancing the health and well-being of ...
restricts the use of "natural" to foods that have not been significantly altered by processing and gives examples of processes that do or do not significantly alter food. This includes two specific additional requirements: *A natural food or ingredient of a food is not expected to contain, or ever to have contained, an added
vitamin A vitamin is an organic molecule (or a set of molecules closely related chemically, i.e. vitamers) that is an essential micronutrient that an organism needs in small quantities for the proper functioning of its metabolism. Essential nutrie ...
, mineral nutrient, artificial flavoring agent or food additive. *A natural food or ingredient of a food does not have any constituent or fraction thereof removed or significantly changed, except the removal of water.


Israel

A specific ingredient can be called "natural" if it did not go through any processing except for the listed ones. The whole food can be called "natural" if the food is not a blend of foods (even if they are all-natural), has no added ingredients, and underwent only the specified processes.


Lack of definition


United States

FSIS is a subsection of the
United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...
(USDA), which is tasked with the responsibility of "ensuring that the nation's commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged." The USDA partnered with the
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...
(FDA) to develop and issue regulations against the inappropriate usage of "natural" labels; yet, the FDA does not have specific rules for "natural" labeling. It advised on their website "the agency has not objected to the use of the term if the food does not contain added color, artificial flavors, or synthetic substances." Furthermore, the FDA has not developed any rules or regulations on the defining features of what qualifies a product as "natural". The FDA does reference a definition of "natural" in their informal policy (Ref. 53) that defines "natural" as "nothing artificial or synthetic (including colors regardless of source) is included in, or has been added to, the product that would not normally be expected to be there." The
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act The United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (abbreviated as FFDCA, FDCA, or FD&C) is a set of laws passed by the United States Congress in 1938 giving authority to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to oversee the safety of f ...
prohibits labeling that is false or misleading. The USDA has a standard for
organic food Organic food, ecological food or biological food are food and drinks produced by methods complying with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming features practices that cycle resources, promote ecological ...
called the
National Organic Program The National Organic Program (NOP) is the federal regulatory framework in the United States of America governing organic food. It is also the name of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) program ...
. As of August 2005, the USDA had a section governing "natural claims" in its Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book. The poultry industry has been criticized by the Center for Science in the Public Interest for labeling chicken meat "all-natural" after it has been injected with saline solution up to 25% of its weight. There is no legal recourse to prevent this labeling.Salt-Water-Soaked Chicken Not at all Natural, Says CSPI
CSPI, February 24, 2010,


See also

*
List of organic food topics This is a list of organic food topics. Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods of organic farming – that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Organic foods are also not proce ...
*
Organic food culture Organic food culture refers to a recent social and cultural trend in which there has been an increased interest in organic food due to the rise of media coverage on health, food safety, and environmental dangers of pesticides. This attitude conside ...


References

{{non-GMO Food packaging Food processing Food retailing foods Product certification