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I see a lot of products touted as being “all natural”; from all natural acne treatments to all natural herbal remedies for everything under the sun. It’s disconcerting when you read the labels, however.

What constitutes natural to you? Is it ingredients from natural sources such as plants and minerals? You could extrapolate that to mean everything is natural since ultimately everything is derived from plants and minerals. It’s what we humans do with those things we pull from those plants and minerals that make them unnatural.

Do you think that because a product is labeled “NATURAL” that it’s automatically safe to use? Think again.

The FDA has no regulations regarding the labeling of products as “natural”

The confusion has gotten worse in recent years, as consumers have flocked to “natural” products, often made by the world’s biggest consumer-products companies, not tiny mom-and-pop organic shops. Johnson & Johnson’s Aveeno line, for example, contains oatmeal, soy and other natural ingredients but has been panned by some for its use of petroleum byproducts. The Natural Marketing Institute says sales of such products grew by 15% in 2005, for example, while the overall U.S. cosmetics and toiletries market grew by 3.5%.

The FDA has been challenged again and again to define “natural products” by such industries as the Sugar Association, , Sara Lee, Burt’s Bees and CSPI, but repeatedly declines issuing such definition and so the unscrupulous continue to bilk the public for more and more while using cheap, synthetic and inferior ingredients while capitalizing on the “natural” label and the desire by many to use products that don’t contribute to pollution, global warming and that are safe to use.

One ingredient that is prevalent in millions of food items is high fructose corn syrup. This is not considered by most to be a natural product, but in fact a synthetic derived from corn. The high use of it in such products as sodas and sweetened desserts and other foods is one of the leading causes of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Although the FDA provides no formal definition for “natural”, it does have a long standing policy regarding the use of the term. This states that a “natural” product is one that has not had any artificial or synthetic substances added to the product that would not normally be expected to be in the food - including artificial flavors or color additives, regardless of source.

The FDA also does not currently restrict the use of the term “natural” except on products that contain added color, synthetic substances and flavors as provided for in Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), section 101.22.

The agency said it has a system in place for manufacturers to inquire about the use of particular ingredients.

So, do you know what’s in YOUR “natural” products? Is the existence of non-natural ingredients going to make you change what you buy? Does it bother you that there are only limited guidelines in place to define what is and isn’t considered “natural” and that there are no laws in effect to punish those who cheat their buyers?

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