--- title: '''Natural'' Foods Can Contain Some Very Disturbing Ingredients' description: Consumer Reports wants the FDA to ban companies from using the word "natural" on food labels -- because the word has no real meaning. authors: - name: Martha C. White role: Writer url: https://money.com/author/martha-c-white/ education: BA, English, Princeton University at_money_since: 2015 articles: 350 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Federal Reserve Rate Cuts - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology published: '2016-01-27T17:33:19.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T10:51:53.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - GMO - groceries - grocery shopping - health foods - natural foods word_count: 268 canonical: https://money.com/natural-food-label-meaning/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![X-rays of vegetables and fruits with red](https://img.money.com/2016/01/160127_em_naturalfoods.jpg) Manufacturers slap the word "natural" onto food labels all the time, but what does that really mean? Can it (and should it) include GMO foods? Can it include foods with preservatives, coloring agents or other additives? If so, which ones? These are the questions that vex health-minded grocery shoppers, and the F.D.A. isn't always as helpful as you might think. Currently, "natural" is one of those vague words that resonates with consumers but doesn't have an official definition — which some consumer advocates have said leaves the door wide-open for abuses and misleading marketing. A new study from [*Consumer Reports*](http://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/peeling-back-the-natural-food-label) says more than half of Americans look for the word natural when they go grocery shopping, "often in the false belief that they’re produced without genetically modified organisms, hormones, pesticides, or artificial ingredients." The magazine took a look at a slew of common, name-brand groceries that purport to be natural foods, either by having the word in their name or somewhere on the packaging, and did a deep dive into their ingredients lists. They found chemical-derived preservatives like potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate, caramel coloring, cellulose powder (a wood-pulp product that's used as an anti-caking agent) and other things that, at best, stretch the definition of "natural." At worst, this labeling misleads shoppers about what they're putting into their bodies and feeding their families. **Read next: 5 Ways You're Being Duped by Food & Drink Labels** *Consumer Reports* has asked the F.D.A. to stop the labeling free-for-all by banning the word "natural" on food products, and it has a [petition](https://secure.consumersunion.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3099) consumers can sign in support of the cause. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/natural-food-label-meaning/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Health and Wellness", "item": "https://money.com/health-and-wellness/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "'Natural' Foods Can Contain Some Very Disturbing Ingredients" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/natural-food-label-meaning/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/natural-food-label-meaning/", "name": "'Natural' Foods Can Contain Some Very Disturbing Ingredients", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2016-01-27T17:33:19.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/natural-food-label-meaning/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/natural-food-label-meaning/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-16T10:51:53.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "'Natural' Foods Can Contain Some Very Disturbing Ingredients", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/01/160127_em_naturalfoods.jpg", "width": 2100, "height": 1400, "caption": "160127_EM_NaturalFoods" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Martha C. White", "url": "https://money.com/author/martha-c-white/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/martha-c-white/#author", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/martha.png?w=350&h=430&crop=1", "jobTitle": "Writer", "alumniOf": "BA, English, Princeton University", "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2016-01-27T17:33:19.000Z", "description": "Consumer Reports wants the FDA to ban companies from using the word \"natural\" on food labels -- because the word has no real meaning.", "abstract": "Consumer Reports wants the FDA to ban companies from using the word \"natural\" on food labels -- because the word has no real meaning.", "@id": "https://money.com/natural-food-label-meaning/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-05-16T10:51:53.000Z", "wordCount": 268, "keywords": [ "GMO", "groceries", "grocery shopping", "health foods", "natural foods" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lifestyle", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Health", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health" ] } ] } ] } ```