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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Food Label Lies: How to Sort Truth From Hype
  • Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2010 12:46:53 -0600



Food Label Lies: How to Sort Truth From Hype
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eatingwell/food-nutrition-labels-natural-organic-local_b_747181.html

I live in Vermont. I have cows and goats as neighbors. I buy chickens from
the farm a mile down my road. I’m the editor of EatingWell Magazine, for
pete’s sake, which champions wholesome, local food and healthy eating.

So you would think I’d know what terms like “all natural” mean. Especially
when “All Natural” appears on a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, which is
made exactly 10.3 miles away from my house.

Well, apparently I don’t. Nor do many people. Because somehow factory-made
ingredients like “fake vanilla, alkalized cocoa, corn syrup, and partially
hydrogenated soybean oil” have found their way into 48 of Ben & Jerry’s 53
“All Natural” flavors, according to the Center for Science in the Public
Interest, a Washington, D.C.-based nutrition and health advocacy group.

Related: 6 Healthy-Sounding Foods That Aren’t

Recently that nonprofit watchdog group sent a letter to Ben & Jerry’s parent
company, Unilever, requesting that it stop using the term. This past week,
Unilever agreed to take the term off the label. This same week, Vermont
congressman Peter Welch sent a letter to the makers of Log Cabin Syrup,
asking them to remove “Natural” from their label, since the syrup contains an
artificial caramel coloring. (Log Cabin is removing the coloring.)

Related: Easy recipes to make “all natural” ice cream at home.

But what about all the other “natural,” “local” or “organic” claims companies
make on their labels—which ones should we believe and which ones are just
hype?
WHAT, EXACTLY, IS “NATURAL?”

Who can use it: Anyone can put the term “natural” (or “all natural”) on most
foods, since the Food and Drug Administration has no formal definition of the
term and doesn’t regulate it or really police it. So far, according to the
agency, it has “not objected to the use of the term if the food does not
contain added color, artificial flavors or synthetic substances.” The one
exception: meats and poultry, which are regulated by a different
organization, the US Department of Agriculture.

What it means: According to the USDA, meat and poultry that has “no
artificial ingredient or added color and is only minimally processed may be
labeled natural.”

The term “naturally raised” is a voluntary (read: unregulated) label that
means livestock have been raised without antibiotics and growth hormones and
have not been fed animal by-products.

The benefits: Foods labeled “natural” should not contain synthetic food dyes.
Recent studies have linked synthetic food dyes with hyperactivity in children
and even with cancer—enough to cause CSPI to call for a ban on synthetic dyes
(ones that appear with a number after them, such as Blue 1 and 2 or Yellow 5
and 6) recently. This doesn’t mean all our food will become duller: plenty of
natural colorants abound.

What it doesn’t mean: Since there is little policing on the term “natural”
it’s best to read the label to see what is really in your food. For instance,
the Tostito’s claim “All Natural” (shown here) is true—Tostito’s Natural Corn
Chips are made with only organic (non-GM) corn, corn oil and salt. However
“natural” in no way implies any product is organic, local, or humanely-raised.

Related:
Beware! 8 Misleading Ingredients Explained
Navigate the labels for the healthiest choices with our guide for buying meat
and poultry
WHAT DOES “ORGANIC” REALLY MEAN?

Who can use it? “Certified organic” is one label that is strictly regulated.
To be “certified organic” a farm must have been pesticide- and herbicide-free
for at least three years. Livestock producers have even more stringent
requirements regarding the feed and care of their animals. Certification is
an expensive and time-consuming process, which means many very small farms
that may be following organic practices don’t bother getting certified.

What it means: The product was made without using pesticides or herbicides,
antibiotics, hormones, irradiation or bio-engineering (i.e. GMO). It means
the farm has been inspected, farm animals given a chance to range in the open
air, and that sustainable agricultural practices are in place. For farmed
fish, it means that less than 25% of their feed comes from other fish and did
not come from forage fish that have been depleted in the wild. Wild fish are
not labeled organic.

The benefits: Organic produce has fewer trace residues of pesticides and more
nutrients, some studies claim. Organic farming—both for produce and
meats—means fewer pesticides, herbicides and antibiotics impact the
groundwater and that environmentally sensitive practices are in use. Last,
organic farms are regularly inspected and organic meats are more easily
traced back to their farm, so if a food-safety issue occurs, it’s easier to
find out where the food comes from.

What it doesn’t mean: An organic label indicates that 95% of the product is
organic (there is also a “100-percent organic” label). And a food with at
least 70% organic ingredients can be labeled “made with organic ingredients.”
Organic also does not guarantee that it was produced on a small farm, is
healthy, or that animals were treated humanely.

Related:
12 Foods You Should Buy Organic
15 Foods with the Lowest Pesticide Resides
HOW LOCAL IS “LOCAL?”

Who can use it: Anyone can say their food is “local” and there are no
regulations on the term. But local to where? The country? The state? The
town? Federal regulations require “country of origin labeling,” or COOL, for
meats fish, fresh and frozen produce, peanuts, pecans and macadamia nuts.
Congress has also passed an act that defines the “local” label as “the
locality or region in which the final product is marketed, so that the total
distance that the product is transported is less than 400 miles from the
origin of the product; or the State in which the product is produced.”

What it means: Unless you visit the farm, it’s truly hard to know what
“local” really is. In Vermont, the term is regulated to mean “local” to
Vermont or made within 30 miles of where the product is sold. Some states
certify farmers’ markets to make sure that you are buying directly from a
local farmer. California, for instance, requires that the farmer actually
grows the produce he or she is selling at a California Certified Farmers’
Market (as opposed to selling through a packager) and that the produce is
grown in state—but that too could be 400 miles away.

The benefits: Buying local supports a local economy and helps ensure that
open land will remain in agriculture. It can also be better for your health,
since local fruits and vegetables are often allowed to ripen longer and thus
often taste better and carry more nutrients. And it could benefit the
environment: one study by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture
shows that if Iowans purchased only 10 percent of their food from their home
state, it would reduce carbon emissions by 7.9 million pounds a year.

What it doesn’t mean: Just because it says “local” doesn’t mean that the food
wasn’t produced on a factory farm, or that it is organic, sustainable or even…
ahem… “natural.”

Related: Do You Know Where Your Food Comes From?

So what do I choose? Whenever possible, organic, local and natural. Better
yet, I grow or make my own food when I can.

By Lisa Gosselin
Lisa Gosselin

Lisa Gosselin is the editorial director of EatingWell Media Group, publisher
of the award-winning EatingWell Magazine, books such as EatingWell
500-Calorie Dinners and EatingWell in Season: The Farmers' Market Cookbook,
EatingWell.com and EatingWell Custom Publishing. She lives in Vermont, near
EatingWell's headquarters and Test Kitchen.




  • [Livingontheland] Food Label Lies: How to Sort Truth From Hype, Tradingpost, 10/30/2010

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