Re: The FDA Doesn’t Regulate the Word ‘Natural’

Karen, to further illustrate your conclusion that it is incumbent upon consumers to educate themselves about nutrition, the FDA does regulate several other words, including “Healthy.” These foods are “low fat” and “low” in saturated fat, sodium, and cholesterol (“low” is also defined by the FDA), and must have a certain minimal amount of iron, some vitamins, fiber, and protein. These same “Healthy” foods, as you know if you read labels, can be sugary and unhealthy, with ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup, MSG, and hydrogenated oils.

Along similar lines, Dr. Mercola had a very good point about yogurt in his article on foods to avoid last week. We eat a lot of yogurt in my family, but I always eat whole milk plain (unsweetened) yogurt. A woman I know was inspired by my yogurt eating and I later learned that she ate yogurt for a few months, but gained weight instead of losing or maintaining weight. She was eating a sweetened, non-fat brand. Yogurts labeled “Light” or “Healthy” or “low fat” are, as a (FDA) rule, loaded with sugar, but not fat. Sugar has fewer calories per ounce than fat, so even caloric restrictions set by the FDA allow for quite a bit of sugar to be added. But be wary of artificially (over-)sweetened “Sugar-free” foods as well — your taste buds and brain can get used to the sweetness, counteracting much of the calorie-saving qualities of these foods. If you go to most chain grocery stores, you will see a huge yogurt section, but be hard pressed to find whole-milk plain yogurt — no wonder we have an obesity problem! I highly recommend cream-top yogurt, which can reliably be found at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, but if that’s not available, many grocery stores do carry at least one brand of pre-stirred whole milk plain yogurt (but after cream-top, the pre-stirred yogurt never compares).

To educate yourself, start by reading ingredients lists on what you buy (which the FDA forces to be on most products in the grocery store, but which can not be included on alcoholic beverages, for example), and then challenge yourself to find foods with shorter lists and truly natural, unprocessed ingredients. Some third-party labeling can be helpful, but these too are somewhat regulated by the FDA (e.g., if a symbol implies “Healthy”). The moral of the story is, not only can you not trust the government on matters of health and nutrition, but they make matters worse through over-regulation and brain-washing.

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11:01 am on May 7, 2012