“All Natural”- What’s Really In Your Food?

Maybe the names of the flavors alone made me believe that I was eating something that was as natural as could be….flavors such as Cherry Garcia, Karamel Sutra, and Imagine Whirled Peace strike a certain chord in this retired ‘tree hugger’ and made me think, hey now this stuff is just basic sweet creamy goodness. The “all natural” phrase on front reassured me too. But apparently it’s quite possibly not as basic, good or all-natural as I thought..
Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream was born in 1978 of a Vermont based team (Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of course) and has since given us many happy nights enjoying wonderfully creamy, rich, ‘all natural’ ice cream. Growing pains hit when the ice cream turned twenty two and was purchased by Unilever. With the growth of the company came the introduction of certain new flavors some of which contained less than natural ingredients.
For the past several years the company has been criticized for using its “all natural’ phrase on the front of all cartons when some products clearly contain ingredients that are not necessarily found in nature, namely partially hydrogenated soya bean oil, alkalized cocoa, and corn syrup. It’s actually an argument of semantics as the United States Drug Administration (USDA) actually defines the word “natural” as minimally processed without artificial colors or ingredients. Apparently partially hydrogenated soya bean oil, alkalized cocoa, and corn syrup somehow fit this loose definition and thus there is an argument that Ben and Jerry’s can continue to use the phrase on the front label of their cartons. However, after continued criticism, the company has agreed to remove the term from some of its cartons to avoid further debate.
The moral of the story is that we must look at food packaging with a skeptical eye and cannot believe everything we see when we read labels, they can be misleading. If we are truly concerned about knowing exactly what we are ingesting and want to be well-informed consumers, we must look beyond the front label, turn the package over and read that horrid ingredient list.
Depending upon what you’re purchasing, it can be a daunting and sobering task. You may innocently turn that package over, assuming a short list of pure yum, only to see fifty ingredients listed, staring you straight in the eye saying, “I DARE you to try and pronounce me”. And poof! The magic is over and your favorite guilty indulgence has lost its sparkle. So if you’d rather just enjoy it and stick with the old adage, ‘Ignorance is bliss.’ I completely understand. I’ve made that choice myself quite a few times.
But for those of you that are up to the challenge and want to be more aware but maybe need some help deciphering that list on the back, we’re going to arm you with some useful information.
The Food and Drug Administration has posted a table of common ingredients with uncommon names which may arm you when, and if, you choose to tackle that scary list. For more information you can visit:
fda.gov/Food/FoodIngredientsPackaging/default.htm .