The original premise of this article was to point out the health benefits of eating all natural foods, somewhat compared to not all natural. But as I looked for supporting evidence, I found that the real question was whether or not the natural claims on food products were supported by the ingredients used. I found that I knew little to nothing about what could and could not be called natural and really had to educate myself on synthetic and natural preservatives, which I think is the most important component (or lack thereof) of a ‘natural’ food product.
When you buy a product that claims to be “All Natural”, you are definitely buying a product that is better than one that does not have that claim. That being said, the question then is are you actually getting what you think you’re getting? According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the FDA has not developed a definition for use of the term natural or its derivatives. To the FDA, “natural” loosely means “any food which nothing artificial or synthetic has been included or has been added to a food that would not normally be expected to be in the food.” Sounds pretty straight forward at first glance…right? Maybe not…
Without a clear definition, there are no real guidelines that manufacturers have to follow to claim to be natural. As long as “natural” is not included in the body of laws, consumers will have to educate themselves and read the all the ingredients along with the nutrition labels.
When I first decided to market my Lemon Paradise™ dressing, I had to create other flavors around it. I opened my refrigerator, spice rack and kitchen cabinets and started to experiment. My children were my test subjects so in effect I created my recipes for them. In our Wholesome Creations™ line of dressings, we use ONLY fresh ingredients. There are NO preservatives, chemicals or additives of any kind. There was no need for me to delve too deeply into the world of natural vs. not natural.
For this article, I had to really educate myself on synthetic as well as natural preservatives. I realized that until now, I never really paid attention to the ingredients within ingredients. Like the majority of consumers, I am not a chemist nor do I have any formal culinary training. I rely on the authorities and manufacturers to correctly label the foods that I buy. I read the nutritional facts and glance at the ingredients to make sure I can pronounce everything in there. If I find something that I don’t quite understand but the label says it’s a natural preservative, I just assume that it’s still good for me and don’t give it another thought. For instance, when a product lists ”natural fruit flavors”, I assume it’s ”natural” and put it in my cart. But after digging a little deeper, I found that some of these natural fruit flavors contain Sodium Benzonate, which is a synthetic preservative and therefore is not considered a natural preservative (although it is allowed for use in foods by the FDA).
It appears that sodium benzoate forms a chemical known as benzene when in the presence of vitamin C. Benzene not only causes damage to DNA, the genetic material, it’s also a known carcinogen and appears to play a role in a variety of diseases due to it’s DNA damaging capabilities.
Potassium Sorbate, another preservative I found in some natural fruit flavors, is likewise a synthetic preservative that has ‘natural’ claims on their labels and while it has not been shown to have the adverse physical effects that other synthetic preservatives have, it is still NOT natural. A funny little fact I found in my research is that Sodium Benzonate “is also used in fireworks as a fuel in whistle mix, a powder that emits a whistling noise when compressed into a tube and ignited.”.
How much of a packaged food product has to actually be natural in order to be considered natural? Since there are no clear guidelines for manufacturers to follow, the answer is not consistent across the board. But I did find one small blurb about the ingredients within ingredients. According to the FDA, incidental trace elements do not need to be disclosed on the label if there is an insignificant amount of them present in the finished product. “An incidental additive is usually present because it is an ingredient of another ingredient. What constitutes an insignificant amount? I could not find a definitive answer to this question; simply that it should not have a function in the finished food.
Research has shown some ‘natural’ preservatives may aggravate the symptoms of ADHD. A 2007 study found that “artificial colours or a sodium benzoate preservative (or both) in the diet resulted in increased hyperactivity in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the general population”.
But realistically, if you buy packed food from your favorite supermarket, chances are that there will be some ingredients within the ingredients that contain some synthetic components. If you are concerned about your health enough to pay higher prices to purchase what you believe are ‘natural’ products, then you should be acutely aware of exactly what you and your family are ingesting. It is up to consumers to take responsibility for the foods they purchase and educate themselves about not only the ingredients but the ingredients within the ingredients listed on the label. There are certain markers that can be used to quickly note if the product may contain ‘un-natural’ components:
- Any kind of added colorings (even if they claim ‘natural’)
- Any kind of preservative (even if they claim ‘natural’)
- Any dehydrated or reconstituted ingredients (some have added preservatives to prevent mold and bacterial growth and may not be separately listed in the ingredients)
- Fruit juice concentrates (which may contain preservatives such as ascorbic acid, citric acid, malic acid as well as a host of artificial sweeteners and added colorings and may not be separately listed in the ingredients)
Be aware of any ingredients that don’t actually say that they are FRESH. They may be freeze dried, dehydrated, reconstituted or concentrates and may contain any number of preservatives or colorings. An educated consumer is NOT the best customer for some manufacturers/importers in the food industry. When consumers begin to take charge of the products that they are willing to buy, the message will go out loud and clear to the industry that they will have to change the ingredients and the methods of processing them. They will not need the FDA to provide guidelines: their revenues will guide them in the right direction.
Submitted by Ani Tirpan of Wholesome Creations. For more information, visit www.wholesomecreations.com