If you’re like myself, you probably think that ingesting less chemicals and pesticides seems like a good idea. But many corporations use clever words and phrases to make their products sounds more chemical-free than they really are. Terms like ‘natural’ and ‘all natural’ are frequently used, but are those products really natural? And what about other marketing catch-phrases, what can we really trust? Here is the short guide to food marketing terms, including terms that are highly regulated and others that are just marketing fluff.

Natural

This basically could be on nearly any product in the grocery store. However well intentioned, it only means that  the product contains some ingredient derived from nature. Personally, I prefer my entire meal to be derived from nature.

Certified Organic

Certified organic products usually contain the USDA Certified organic logo. There are a lot of guidelines to make a product certified organic. It’s ingredients must be grown/raised without conventional pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, antibiotics or growth hormones. It must not contain any ingredients that are genetically modified. Additionally, in order to be labeled ‘100% Organic’, a product must be just that. A product can carry just the USDA Certified organic logo if it contains 95% organic ingredients. Products that contain at least 70% organic products can claim ‘made with organic ingredients’.

Free Range

Applies to meat, poultry and eggs. While the term ‘free range’ conjurs images of animals blissfully roaming a grassy field, it really only means the animal was permitted outside for some period of time during the day, and is essentially meaningless.

Whole Grains

Products that tout ‘whole grain’ ingredients must only contain a portion of whole grains, and thus could still contain large amounts of highly processed ingredients, like refined flour. Since refined flour is stripped of nearly all of its fiber and nutrients, it is best avoided. Only products that say ‘100% whole grain’ will actually contain all whole grains.

Made With Real Fruit

Again this points out one ingredient a product contains, but gives no indication if it contains other not-so-healthy ingredients like high fructose corn syrup or bleached flour. Products that contain 100% real fruit with no additives are good. Of course you can always just eat fresh fruit!