There has been a lot of hype lately about truth in packaging, in specific the use of labels like, "100% All Natural", "Organic", or "Made with Organic Ingredients."
I've read it in Self Magazine, read it on Yahoo News. I'm sure you've read an article that tries to wade through the confusing packaging bullshit. Unfortunately, a lot of these articles themselves, are, well, confusing bullshit.
It's true, the label "100% All Natural" has no regulations on it. I believe it was Ben and Jerry's ice cream that stuck this label on its packages despite having ingredients like homogenized oils and corn syrup. Health advocacy groups made a big fuss and made them change their packaging, but the truth is, is that people who have done the research, know how to read labels. "All Natural" never means "Just trust the advertisers and buy this product without reading the ingredients." In fact, I'm kind of obsessive about reading the ingredients, no matter what it is, and even if I've bought the product before.
I remember one of the first grocery store visits with Paul, at the beginning of his conversion to truly healthy eating, we were looking for bread, and he picked up a loaf and said "this says 100% all natural" and I snapped back "no, that doesn't mean anything!" He was kind of defensive, like, it has to mean something, they can't just put that on the label, but the truth is that they can. I apologized, and explained to him that you should look for the organic label, but you can never ever ever not read the ingredients. 
What really irks me about these articles is that, even though they are usually right about the dishonesty in the all natural logo, there are usually harsh on the Organic label, stating that while the "Organic" label does mean that 90% of the ingredients have to be certified organic, and that the "Made With Organic Ingredients" label means it has to be made with 70%, "there is no evidence that these foods are any more 'nutritious'".
The evil bastards behind labeling things as "All Natural" are also behind this idea of "more nutritious". Organic food is more genetically diverse, comes from richer soil that is better for maintaining a healthy environment both in the farm and in your body, and most importantly, uh, IT'S NOT POISONOUS!
A recent british study found that, "There is no good evidence that increased dietary intake, of the nutrients identified in this review to be present in larger amounts in organically than in conventionally produced crops..." but they also, "did not compare amounts of antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, irradiation, genetic modification, or sewage sludge. They did not look at any of those things. They only looked at nutrients." This is an example of "nutritionism in action: looking at foods as if their nutrient content is all that matters - not production methods, not effects on the environment, and not even taste."
The full article can be found at, http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/blogs/healthy-food/organic-food-nutrition-47073102#ixzz15ULsnJyx
Does organic food only have slightly more antioxidants, vitamins and minerals? Yeah. But the thing it is that "Organic" means that the crop was grown without thousands of toxic pesticides and herbicides which have been proven to be potent, cancer causing poisons. Just google "pesticides and cancer" or "pesticides and disease" and you will be bombarded by medical evidence of the link between pesticides and herbicides and disease. Some books that I recommend reading, and will back up my claims are, In Defense of Food; Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You to Know About; A Chemical Feast; Innocent Casualties: The FDA's War Against Humanity; Raw Foods:The Key to Eternal Youth; or The Maker's Diet, just to name a few, not to mention anything written by the Braggs.
The sad fact is that every book about the topic, every honest, inclusive, medical study done, have all determined that eating non organic foods is essentially drinking anti-venom with your venom, does it help heal your body and remove toxins? Nope! Does it fill you body with even more toxic chemicals that will never be removed so long as you eat said conventional produce? Yep!
See what I'm getting at here people?
I give props to the media for finally beginning to admit that eating synthetic nonsense is bad for you, and promoting the idea of reading food labels, but what I'd like to see is the media finally admitting that non organic food is also toxic nonsense, disguised as healthy produce.
In the meantime, I give you all these words of wisdom: Read Everything, Never Trust Packaging, and RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH! Remember, their number one goal of advertisers is to make money. I implore you to educate yourself and make food choices accordingly.
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