FDA asks for feedback on meaning of ‘natural’

That could change soon, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is now seeking public input on the use of the word “natural” on food product labels. Further confusing the situation, the USDA holds that “natural” means meat with minimal processing and no artificial ingredients, but offers a variety of loopholes.

On its website, the FDA said federal courts have asked the agency for administrative decisions regarding food products with genetically-engineered ingredients or foods with high fructose corn syrup and if they can wear a “natural” label.

Speaking at FoodNavigator-USA’s Natural & Clean Label online forum a year ago, food law attorney Steve Gardner (now of counsel at Stanley Law Group) said the only sure fire way to restore consumer trust and stop the deluge of lawsuits over “natural” would be to define what it actually means.

The Food and Drug Administration is asking people to weigh in on a definition for the term “natural” on food labels. A substantial majority of respondents-more than 60 percent-said they believed “natural” on a packaged-food label not only meant no artificial ingredients but also that no pesticides or chemicals or genetically modified organisms were used in the production of the food. FDA invites comment on nuanced issues such as whether manufacturing processes should be considered in determining whether a food may be called “natural”; whether and how consumers compare/confuse “organic”, “natural”, and “healthy”; and whether the use of genetic engineering should influence the applicability of “natural” terminology.

“In a world with limited resources“, said the agency, the FDA had more pressing priorities relating to “public health and safety matters“. On Thursday the agency began accepting public comments on what foods and beverages merit the label “natural“-and, perhaps more importantly, those that don’t”. But the term “natural” is a little more vague.

Consumers, however, are by and large unaware of the FDA’s definition.

The issue of whether GMOs belong in “all-natural” products – which is at the center of a growing number of class action lawsuits against big food brands – has featured heavily in the debate over GMO labeling, with a few state-led GMO labeling initiatives stipulating that products containing GMOs should not be described as “natural“.

In its request for comment, FDA poses a series of questions regarding whether/how to define the term “natural“.

How long it might take the FDA to come up with a legal definition for “natural” is anyone’s guess. But it has not announced that it’s creating a new rule or definition.

In an effort to better understand what the general public thinks the term should encompass, the FDA has set up an electronic platform for consumers to use in order to submit their comments electronically.