Living with Labels…

There’s a difference???

So are “natural” and “organic” synonymous with each other? Well, I’m hopefully going to shed a little light in the label war and you can judge for yourself. Let’s start…

ORGANIC: Products bearing this label are required to contain no less than 95% certified organic ingredients. The remaining 5% are non-organic and synthetic ingredients.

100% ORGANIC: By law, these products have to be made entirely of certified organic ingredients, produced in accordance with federal organic standards and include no synthetics.

MADE WITH ORGANIC INGREDIENTS: These products have a 70/30 split of organic and non-organic ingredients that have been approved by the USDA.

NATURAL: Concerning meat, it means the manufacturer claims to have used no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. “Naturally raised” means no growth promoters, antibiotics, animal by-products, or fish by-products.

FREE RANGE: This label does NOT mean that the animals have spent most of the time outdoors. To use this label means the producers have to only offer the animals outdoor access as little as 5 minutes per day. But “allowing access” doesn’t mean much. A small door in a barn with thousands  of chickens technically gives chickens an opportunity to go outside, but that  doesn’t mean that they’ll have access to grass (it may only be a concrete slab). (via)

Bottom line: Eat fresh. Eat local. Do it.

Originally posted on Clayzmama.