Simply Said: "All Natural"

Food products, much like books, are judged by their covers. Would it surprise you to know that many companies literally spend millions of dollars on teams that scrutinize precisely what images and words to display on a box of crackers?

Certain health claims up a product's chance of ending up in a consumer's shopping cart. One of the most aggravating claims is "all-natural!" (what would the world of marketing be without exclamation marks?)

Many people still attempt to justify junk food as being okay because, hey, the box says it's "all-natural" (yeah, and the ad for a 20 square foot studio apartment in New York City describes it as "cozy and charming").

Truthfully, that means nothing. Sure, baby carrots and orange slices are "all natural" foods, but so are french fries, cheeseburgers, and brownies.

Even the Cheetos shown in the photo accompanying this post are "naturally baked". Huh? In an oven at high temperatures as opposed to what kind of baking that would be considered "artificial"?

To demonstrate how nutritionally irrelevant this health claim is, all I can say is that poisonous mushrooms also natural. Sure, some render us dead, but they grow in nature.

Please, do not fall into the hands of a slick advertiser trying to pry a few dollar bills from your wallet with vague health claims. A product can be all-natural and still be high in fat and sugars but low in fiber and nutrients.