When “Natural” Isn’t Natural — and Protections Aren’t Protected

This week’s Organic Insider follows up on two consequential stories.

1) “NATURAL” GMO FOOD COLORS: NOT WHAT ACTIVISTS HAD IN MIND

Several months ago, Organic Insider warned that as major food companies pledged to remove petroleum-based synthetic dyes, they might pivot — not to carrots and turmeric — but to colors produced through genetic engineering via precision fermentation.

That prediction is now unfolding.

The FDA just approved beetroot red submitted by Phytolon, one of the companies referenced in our earlier reporting. Federal officials are framing this decision as progress toward replacing synthetic dyes with “natural” alternatives.

“We are making it easier for companies to move away from petroleum-based synthetic colors and adopt safer, naturally derived alternatives,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

But describing a genetically-engineered pigment as “naturally derived” is precisely what alarms consumer advocates.