ABSTRACT
The granola bar I have with breakfast comes wrapped in a label that proudly declares the snack is “100% natural,” with “no artificial flavors or coloring.” Ben & Jerry’s ice cream claimed likewise, until it was forced under pressure from the Center for Science in the Public Interest to drop the “all natural” label. The ice cream reportedly contained the ingredients anhydrous dextrose and maltodextrin, which are not, by any stretch of the Food and Drug Administration’s definition (or Webster’s Dictionary), considered “natural.” In another quotidian habit, María, my life companion, uses a “pure collagen gel” said to be “nature’s wrinkle fighter.” Lastly-and we could go on ad infinitum-next to a baseball box score in the day’s newspaper is an ad brandishing the claim, “A new discovery fuels muscle building.” The discovery? “A natural compound” that increases blood flow and improves muscle “fullness.”
