What do they actually mean? I’m starting an alphabetical list and am adding new terms each week!
Be sure to check out my instagram story on Friday’s to learn more @eat_with_ellie
Natural
The FDA does not currently have a formal definition for what “natural” means on food packaging. They have had a longstanding policy for the term “natural” to generally mean that “nothing artificial or synthetic (including color additives regardless of source) has been included in, or has been added to, a food that would not normally be expected to be in that food.”
However this policy doesn’t address food production methods, food processing, or food manufacturing methods. So, pesticide use, pasteurization, thermal technologies, and irradiation can still be used on these products.
There are no nutrition standards a food must meet to claim “natural”. The term “natural” doesn’t indicate any specific nutrition or health benefit.
For meat & poultry, the USDA allows a package to say “natural” on products with no artificial ingredients or added color and must be minimally processed and must explain why it meets this criteria on the packaging.