'Natural' label not easy to pin down

Certified organic products must be made with ingredients raised or grown without artificial fertilizers, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, irradiation, sewage sludge or genetic modification.

[...] what are we to make of Honey BBQ All Natural Potato Chips containing 20 ingredients, among them monosodium glutamate, yellow food color, and undoubtedly genetically modified corn and soy, but "no hydrogenated fats and gluten free"?

If you have made it through all the not's in this non-definition, you can begin to understand how the FDA can allow high-fructose corn syrup to be "natural."

Even though enzymes, synthetic or not, are required to convert cornstarch to this mixture of glucose and fructose, it does not contain artificial colors or flavors.

While "natural" does not necessarily mean "healthy" or even "healthier," it works splendidly as a marketing term and explains why many junk-food manufacturers are switching from expensive organic ingredients to those they can market as "natural."

The FDA isn't fixing this situation because, according to a statement in response to a petition by Center for Science in the Public Interest, it's "not an enforcement priority."

In recent years, advocacy groups have filed dozens of lawsuits seeking to ban "natural" claims on foods containing ingredients that seem unnatural, especially those genetically modified.

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service says "naturally raised" means the meat must come from animals produced with no hormone growth promoters, no antibiotics and no animal by-products.