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While the USDA has set guidelines for producing, processing and handling organic products through its Organic Foods Product Act, it has not taken such steps for natural products. The question 'What is natural?' has, hence, troubled all since many years and has become very important due to increasing popularity of organic and natural food.
Normally products that have small amounts of artificial ingredients are also labeled as natural. As 'small amount' means different to different people, many manufacturers label their products as natural even when they have added significant amount of synthesized ingredients in their products.
The International Association of Natural Products Producers (IANPP) has prepared draft for definitions of natural products. These definitions are purely based on the ingredients present in the products. They do not take other aspects such as safety, toxicity, fair trade, etc., into consideration. Parts of these are given below:
- Natural food/supplement ingredients: Must be derived from natural (non-synthetic/man-made) and/or recognized food sources such as plants, inorganic minerals, and animals. Any changes to the original natural ingredient must not undergo changes in one or more covalent bonds during manufacturing and/or processing.
- Natural topical ingredients: Derived (originate) from natural sources (not synthetic/man-made), including plant, animal, and inorganic mineral sources. Any changes to the original natural ingredient must not undergo changes in one or more covalent bonds during manufacturing and/or processing.
The complete definitions for the above categories of natural products are available on the website of IANPP. We can review these definitions and send your feedback to IANPP. Remember, our feedback is very valuable as we are the ones who consume these natural products. Feedback and suggestions can be mailed to the id This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .
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