When faced with a choice between an ice cream made with vanillin, a synthetic form of vanilla, or an ice cream flavored with vanilla that came from a real vanilla bean, which would you choose? Probably the real thing, but that’s becoming harder to come by — and more expensive. [More]
all natural
Ramen Makers Do The Unthinkable: Package Noodles With Less Salt
By 9.16.16
Cup noodles have traditionally been a cheap, filling way to suddenly get a huge amount of salt in your system. Right? Do they actually do anything else? As Americans look for snack foods that are at least nominally healthier and that have fewer additives, even the makers of cup noodles are cutting back on sodium and artificial flavors. [More]
Lawsuit Claims “All Natural” Insecticide Used On Organic Marijuana Is Anything But
By 7.19.16
We’ve come a long way from complaints that the weed you bought in the school parking lot was cut with oregano that fall on deaf ears (because really, you should know better): now that there’s a burgeoning legal marijuana industry in some states, consumer complaints and grievances can be aired in court. Like a lawsuit in Oregon that claims the makers of an “all natural” insecticide used on “organically grown” pot plants actually contains a chemical substance. [More]
Companies Agree To Stop Promoting Beauty Products With Synthetic Ingredients As “All Natural”
By 4.12.16
One would assume when buying a product marketed as “all-natural” or “100% natural” that said product wouldn’t contain synthetic ingredients like phenoxyethanol or polyethylene, right? Wrong. At least, that’s the cases for five companies facing action by federal regulators for allegedly making false claims about their products’ ingredients.
Soda Makers Advertise New And Exciting Ingredient: Sugar
By 3.30.16
Late last year, Pepsi prepared to introduce a new beverage, the old-timey and upscale 1893, or as its trademark application called it, “1893 From the Makers of Pepsi-Cola.” It’s just one of many products taking advantage of a strange trend in soft drinks right now: making products with real sugar is a selling point, something that the industry might not have expected just a few years ago. [More]
Whole Foods Asks Judge To Put The Kibosh On Lawsuit Over “Natural” Label On Baked Goods
By 3.11.16
When it comes to products with labels reading “all natural,” are you willing to pay more than you would otherwise? Whole Foods customers who have filed lawsuits against the grocery chain said they paid a premium price for baked goods that were falsely labeled as natural, as they actually contained synthetic ingredients. [More]
‘Natural’ Is A Meaningless Marketing Term When Applied To Food
By 1.27.16
One of the many labels that you’ll see on food at your local food-buying store is “natural.” What marketers want you to think is that “natural” products lack artificial flavor or color additives or preservatives, and maybe even that they’re made with organic ingredients. What it actually means is that the product says “natural” on the label, and that label is probably in shades of tan and light green. [More]
Campbell Soup Company Climbs On Bandwagon, Will Eliminate Artificial Colors And Flavors By 2018
By 7.23.15
Joining competitors in the packaged food market like General Mills, Nestlé USA, and Kraft and chain restaurants like Subway, Panera, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, Campbell Soup Company announced this week that it will stop using artificial colors and flavors in all of its products sold in North America in 2018. [More]
Survey Says: Shoppers Prefer Cosmetics With Cruelty-Free, All Natural Labels
By 3.27.15
When it comes to what we slap on our faces, a new survey says we’ve got more than just beauty on our minds when choosing which cosmetics to buy: Turns out a love for plants, animals and all things natural is the guiding force when shoppers are making decisions in the beauty aisle. [More]
Kashi’s “All-Natural” Labeling To End After Kellogg’s Agrees To $5M Settlement
By 5.8.14
It’s always nice to know what you’re putting in your body comes from all-natural ingredients, not, say something called pyridoxine hydrochloride found in Kashi products. That doesn’t sound very natural, does it? That’s because it probably isn’t. [More]
Certified Organic Cereal-Flavored Milk Is A Thing Now
By 9.9.13
The brand name “Cow Wow” can refer to one of two products. It could be “Cow Wow” the liquid cow manure concentrate, a nutritious but smelly garden fertilizer. Or it could be “Cow Wow” the flavored, shelf-stable organic milk, a nutritious but sugar-laden dairy product. Choose carefully. [More]
Wendy's Testing "Natural" Fries In Some Areas
By 8.25.10
Perhaps unhappy with the fourth place finish of its french fries in the annual Zagat fast food survey, Wendy’s has recently begun testing a new recipe for fries that goes along with the company’s new emphasis on “real” ingredients. [More]
Mercury: High-Fructose Corn Syrup's Secret Ingredient?
By 8.13.09
First, we learn of a possible sugar shortage, now an article by Mother Jones finds that part of the production procedure for high-fructose corn syrup might involve contaminating it with mercury. Basically, today is the best day ever for the president of NutraSweet.
Our Egg Nog Is Made Exactly Like It Was In 1898! With HFCS!
By 12.12.08
Reader Sarah got a laugh from her egg nog this morning. The package says the ingredients are all natural, just “exactly” like when “Grandfather started our dairy business in 1898.”
