There is no widely accepted definition of the word "natural" as far as the Food and Drug
Administration is concerned. Many products use the term in their marketing but contain synthetic ingredients and the
vast majority of people would support an official
definition. Smaller majorities favored basing the definition on the amount of processing that a product undergoes
or how exactly the raw material is altered. The Sugar Association has been lobbying the FDA to adopt an official
standard - such as the USDA has for beef and poultry - for some time to try and prevent manufactured sugar
substitutes, like Splenda, from labeling themselves as a natural product. "Natural" is defined by the USDA as any product "containing no artificial ingredient
or added color and [that] is only minimally processed (a process which does not fundamentally alter the raw
product)."
"all natural sweeteners" news and stories
FDA encouraged to define "natural" products
COMMENTS 1
There is no widely accepted definition of the word "natural" as far as the Food and Drug
Administration is concerned. Many products use the term in their marketing but contain synthetic ingredients and the
vast majority of people would support an official
definition. Smaller majorities favored basing the definition on the amount of processing that a product undergoes
or how exactly the raw material is altered. The Sugar Association has been lobbying the FDA to adopt an official
standard - such as the USDA has for beef and poultry - for some time to try and prevent manufactured sugar
substitutes, like Splenda, from labeling themselves as a natural product. "Natural" is defined by the USDA as any product "containing no artificial ingredient
or added color and [that] is only minimally processed (a process which does not fundamentally alter the raw
product)."
Filed under: Did you know?, Ingredients
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