"AllNatural" news and stories

Ben & Jerry's, the peace-lovin' ice cream icon, started out as a couple of ex-hippies serving homemade ice cream from a converted gas station in downtown Burlington, Vermont. Since then they've achieved worldwide fame -- and been bought out by Unilever, the giant international conglomerate of more than 400 brands. All along, the company has assured fans that they're the same as they've always been. But yesterday the company dropped a bombshell: They announced they'll be removing "all-natural" from its labels.

Turns out some of Ben & Jerry's flavors contain ingredients that stretch most people's idea of "natural" -- ingredients like hydrogenated oils, invert sugar, and corn syrup. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a watchdog group that advocates for sound policy in nutrition and public health, called Ben & Jerry's out last month in a pointed letter, saying that although the company had "cultivated an image of integrity," it's been "making a misleading use of the term 'natural.' "

Ben & Jerry's has been compliant with the FDA all along -- but CSPI sees that as part of the problem. The FDA hasn't come up with an official definition of "natural," so while the public has one idea of what it means, a food purveyor can have quite another. "Apparently your corporation continues to believe that substances like hydrogenated oil and alkalized cocoa powder are 'all natural,' " the CSPI wrote stiffly.

I have a confession to make. This year, I did not bake Scott's birthday cake from scratch. It's the fourth birthday confection I've baked for him in the years we've known each other, and it's the first time I didn't start with raw ingredients and a recipe. Instead, I used two boxes of Naturally Nora's cake mix and saved myself a whole lot of prep time. No one at his party had any idea that I hadn't slaved over the cake, measuring flour, beating egg whites and creaming butter. I got a million compliments and as I received each one, I just smiled and said thanks (as I write this, I'm beginning to feel like a 1950's housewife), mentally forwarding them to Nora herself.

The thing is, I don't feel bad about passing off that cake as my own. I did bake it up in the big aluminum pan I inherited from my great-aunt and I sweated over the frosting. It's just not always possible to bake a cake from scratch, and it's awfully nice to know that there's a dependable, natural cake mix out there among all those chemical-laden ones that is just as easy and tastes really good.

So next time you have to make cupcakes for a school party and you find yourself running short on time, grab one of Nora's mixes (they come in five flavors) and let yourself off the hook.

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The Fancy Food Show is starting to become a distant memory, as the demands of regular old work and life push their back into the forefront of my mind. However, there are a few products that continue to stick with me and continue to marvel me with their absolute deliciousness.

One such product is Cocio. It doesn't look like much, in fact it's nothing more than chocolate milk in a bottle. However, it is the best chocolate milk I've ever tasted. It is sweet, but not cloying, thick without being sludgy and every so chocolate-y. It is a Danish product that has been around since 1951 and in that country, is often consumed as street food, in conjunction with sausages (at least according to Wikipedia). It is also all natural, made of nothing more than chocolate, sugar (no high fructose corn syrup here) and milk. If you think of yourself as a chocolate milk connoisseur, this is a product to seek out.

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The words "all natural" on the packaging of Capri Sun juice drinks have prompted a Florida woman to file a lawsuit against Kraft Foods, Inc., the drink's producer, the Associated Press reported. Assisted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Linda Rex of Boynton Beach, Fla., claims that the inclusion of high fructose corn syrup is what makes the drink in the little silver pouch less than "all natural." You might remember the CSPI from when they filed and then withdrew lawsuits against Kentucky Fried Chicken over trans-fat use last year, or for their similar actions against Starbucks. A recent press release from CSPI points out that the organization has also challenged 7UP's use of the word "natural." A statement from Kraft says that the "all natural" label was already on the way out and will soon be replaced with packaging that claims "no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives,'' the AP reported. CSPI's always-witty executive director Michael Jacobson, coiner of phrases such as "venti-sized health problems" and "Kentucky Fried coronary," said HCFS "would more accurately be called 'Fresh from the Factory.'"