Definition: In the dictionary, 鈥渆xisting in or caused by nature.鈥�
What it means for you: Absolutely nothing, yet. Food manufacturers can label anything from guacamole to Sun Chips 鈥渘atural鈥� without consequence, though some people are trying to change that. California鈥檚 Proposition 37, which failed to pass last year, would have prohibited genetically modified food from being labeled 鈥渘atural.鈥� The law鈥檚 downfall was its lack of specificity: almost all foods are modified by humans on some basic level, and opponents argued that enforcing such labeling restrictions state by state could get tricky.
That hasn鈥檛 stopped people from trying to hold food companies accountable. Shortly after Prop 37 was voted down, a Colorado woman sued Campbell鈥檚, which manufactures 鈥淕oldfish鈥� crackers, for marketing the fish-shaped orange snacks as 鈥渘atural鈥� when they contained genetically modified organisms, such as soy derivatives.
