‘Natural’ doesn’t necessarily mean better or safer

All kinds of products are labeled natural these days, from chicken and soda to cosmetics and oven cleaners. But sometimes that natural claim can be misleading. For one thing, not all natural ingredients are the breath of fresh air you're looking for. Take carminic acid, a red dye extracted from pregnant scale insects; citric acid, made from fungus fermentation; and gelatin, made from the bones of livestock. And not all natural ingredients are benign.

Some herbal ingredients like d-limonene from citrus oils and sodium lauryl sulfate, derived from coconuts, can irritate to your lungs and skin. Even worse, there are no rules covering personal-care products, processed foods, or cleaners that use the natural label. So companies are free to slap on the label without any guidelines. The natural label on fresh food is also questionable; government regulations cover only meat and poultry. The Department of Agriculture can hold a company accountable, but no government or other agency verifies that food and other products are made from natural ingredients.

What you can do
Next time you see a natural label, check out the ingredient list. In processed foods like natural soda, for example, you might find high-fructose corn syrup, a chemically made sugar. Look instead for sodas that use cane sugar. You may also find heart-unhealthy partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats, which can be chemically made from oil) in natural snack foods and bread. Look for healthful, natural oils like olive oil and safflower oil in the ingredients list.

Cleaners are tougher to check because the government doesn’t require all ingredients to be listed on labels. The same goes for fragrances and flavorings; their ingredients are considered trade secrets. But you should find some ingredients listed on shampoos, lotions, and nail-care items. Tip-offs that the product isn’t natural include formaldehyde, toluene, xylene, and FD&C dyes or colors.

Finally, never confuse natural with organic. You'll often find natural products lumped together with organics in the store, but they aren’t the same thing. The organic label is the real deal most of the time. It’s backed by government standards, and inspectors verify that manufacturers are living up to them. So if you really want to go natural, shop for products with a legitimate organic label and ignore the rest.

Find out what the labels on your food, personal care product or household cleaner really mean at www.eco-labels.org.

—Urvashi Rangan, Ph.D., director of GreenerChoices.org, our Web site on products for a better planet

Comments

[Bruce Price]

The post by James Carlock may have some possible validity regarding health, but to waste space trying to blame the Bush and Clinton families for Canola Oil is ridiculous.

As there are numerous internet assertions that Canola Oil is dangerous to our health, I hope that Consumer Reports will study those contentions and provide us with the truth.

[MAURO BISPO]

would you pls let me know if this company
nativeremedies.com
is safe as they say etc...i am taking as a sleeping aid
tks

[James Carlock]

I would like to mention that sometimes whole industries lie about their products, even unnatural products like canola oil.

In 2006, I read some things advising that canola oil is healthy and helps the body, so I decided to try it out. And for six months I ate canola oil. And for the first time in my life, while going to doctors every three months, I discovered I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels (LDLs were high, HDLs were reported low), I gained 50 pounds and I noticed that insulin started taking 12 hours to go through my body.

During that year, the paramedics came out to my house so often that one of the paramedics threatened me, stating he would attack me from behind, kick me in the back of my leg and he would put me down. I looked at the paramedic in utter horror and shock and asked why he would state something like that and he replied, "Because I will do that." I asked him twice, "But why would you do such a thing?" and his only reply ended up as "Because I will do that."

My story though is NOT about that paramedic and his partner. My story is about the effects of canola oil. For six months of my life, I suffered from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and what I define as a slowing of the body's metabolism (because it started to take insulin 12 hours to get processed instead of the normal 4 to 6 hours). In addition, canola oil CAUSED me to gain 50 pounds.

I've noticed that canola oil in pet food also causes pets to gain weight.

Six months after I stopped consuming canola oil, I lost the 50 pounds I gained, my blood pressure returned to normal, my cholesterol levels went back to normal (or did they?).

Anyways, after researching canola oil, trying to figure out what it is, I discovered that Monsanto, a company that works with the Bush and Clinton families, a company which gets approval through the friends of the Bush and Clinton families on genetically modified rapeseed oils, a company which creates possibly harmful and deadly foods, which works in conjunction with the Bush AND Clinton families to get its foods approved...

well you should get the drift. It's not up to me to explore this any longer. I'll leave it up to someone that wants to explore this. I want to but no one wants to hear what I have to say... I've just encountered too many problems, where paramedics threaten me and then act out upon those threats and then the police departments and the fire departments refuse to do anything about fire fighters that attack people. And I've already put myself into too much trouble and I am subject to fire fighters who WILL possibly kill to keep my mouth shut. So I'm happy to continue with my fight against canola oil and spread the news that canola oil causes many health problems for many people.

[Lawrence Spindel DDS]

I have a number of patients who only let their children drink bottled water and not drink filtered NYC water. Sometimes I think they are doing their children a disservice since the bottled water often has no 'natural' flouride and the NYC water has the proper amount of fluoride added to prevent decay. Is natural always better, even if it is truly 'natural"?

[Θεμις Μαντζαβινος]

Hi

That is correct and I agree.