It’s one of the industrial food industry’s biggest marketing scams—labeling a product “natural” or “all-natural” or “100% natural” in order to sell more product, despite knowing full well that the product contains ingredients that consumers would reasonably conclude are not natural.
We call it the “Myth of Natural.”
This week, we settled a lawsuit with General Mills.
According to the joint statement we issued with our co-plaintiffs, Beyond Pesticides and Moms Across America:
At a time specified by the agreement, packaging for General Mills Nature Valley Granola bars will no longer bear the term “100% Natural Whole Grain Oats.”
Agreements like the one with General Mills are just the first step. We still have to push for a long-term solution to the problem of using the word “natural” in ways that mislead consumers.
More important, we need to push for a food system free of unnatural ingredients, including pesticides.