From cereals to salad dressings, fruit drinks to potato chips, health-conscious consumers can choose an “All Natural” version of just about anything. If you, however, like many other unsuspecting consumers, feel comforted by the words “All Natural” plastered across the labels and packaging of your food, prepare to be disillusioned, for the one thing a consumer cannot find on the shelves of the grocery stores, or anywhere else for that matter, is an official definition of “natural.”
With “All Natural” foods as easy to come by as a glass of water, what are companies really promising when they claim their products are “All Natural”? As far as labels that state products are “All Natural,” or “Naturally Made,” these terms are not actually regulated, with the exception of meat and poultry. It is merely suggested, but not required that foods labeled “All-Natural” are less processed and contain less synthetics such as artificial sweeteners, dyes and other additives. Shockingly, some “All Natural” products have very little natural ingredients at all. In fact, a lot of foods labeled as “All Natural” contain high levels of genetically engineered ingredients.
According to an article from the Wall Street Journal, food companies play “fast and loose” with the “All Natural” designation, which can lead to confusion for consumers.
Kashi cereals, Skinnygirl Margarita alcoholic beverages, Wesson cooking oils, and Arizona-brand drinks, all claim to be “All Natural” and all have recently been the subject of litigation relating to these claims. While in the past, only a few consumer trusted products claimed to be “All Natural,” as more companies claim their products to be “All Natural,” consumers are having a harder time making comparisons between products that offer a reasonably natural alternative and those that are just making the claim.
Still worse, according to Charlotte Vallaeys, Director of Farm and Food Policy at Cornucopia “[s]ome companies that started out organic, and built brand loyalty as organic brands, have switched to non-organic ingredients and “natural” labeling.” One such brand, Peace Cereal® is an example of what Cornucopia calls “bait-and-switch.”
If you have purchased a product that claims to be “all natural” and the label discloses that the ingredients are not natural, please contact us to discuss your legal options.