Horizon Organic, the country’s largest organic milk products distributor, has recently announced a new line of “all natural” products. This is dismaying to many fans of the organic movement, because it would cause an erosion in revenue and profit to organic farmers.

You see, “Natural” is an undefined term, at least from a regualtory perspective. Which means products labeled “Natural” will enjoy the Horizon aura of health, but cost far less to manufacture, reaping a hefty profit to Horizon.

The first products are toddler yogurts, called Little Blends, and are expected to roll out later this month. Milk Breakers, a boxed vanilla / chocolate drink is slated for later this year.

According to Horizon, their natural products will be produced “without added hormones, artificial sweeteners, artificial colors, flavors, preservatives or high fructose corn syrup.” [source: LA Times]

What you need to know:

This is a great marketing move by Dean Foods, the mega dairy corporation that acquired Horizon back in 2003. In professional lingo this is called brand extension. You take the well known spotted cow logo of Horizon Organic and plaster it on new line of products.

What’s deceptive here, is that the new product line is NOT organic. The amorphous “all natural” claim is not defined by the FDA or USDA, although a  an FDA spokeswoman said “the agency does not object to using the term on food labels ‘in a manner that is truthful and not misleading’ and if the product has no added color, artificial flavors, or synthetic substances.”

But this is too open ended. For example, High Fructose Corn Syrup is considered by some manufacturers as a natural product, because it is made from corn.

“All natural” foods are one of the fastest growing product categories in the US in the past year. It’s no wonder all the big manufacturers are jumping on board. It’s great for sales, because it lets consumers feel good about their choice, even with no real backing.

At the end of the day, this move will deteriorate even further consumer perception of differences between organic and natural food. This ultimately hurts organic farmers, who are already struggling in a tough economy.

Horizon has previously been called out for production practices claimed to be out of line with organic principles. It seems that the bigger you grow as a company, the harder it is to adhere to your original beliefs and principles.

And don’t get us started on toddler yogurts. What’s the problem with junior enjoying a regular yogurt? Is it caffeinated? Does it have alcoholic content? But that’s the subject for another post.

What to do at the supermarket:

Don’t get duped by “Natural” labels. They do not necessarily mean the product is healthy for you. If you want no growth hormones, antibiotics, and free pastured cows, you’ll have to cough up the cash to pay for the more expensive organic products.

And if you are buying conventional, look beyond the front of package marketing hype and read the nutrition panel carefully. Look at daily values for nutrients and examine the ingredient list.  A high amount of fat and sugar in a product may count as natural, but they definitely do not make it a healthy food.

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A recent study conduced by Italian researchers found that two commonly used food additives have the ability to alter human hormones. From The Daily Green:

More than 3,000 preservatives, flavorings, colors and other ingredients are added to food in the United States, and none of them are required to undergo testing for estrogenic activity, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

The two suspect additives are:

1. propyl gallate – used to prevent fats and oils from spoiling.  Used in baked goods, shortening, dried meats, candy, fresh pork sausage, mayonnaise and dried milk.

2. 4-hexyl resorcinol – prevents shellfish such as shrimp and lobsters from discoloring.

What you need to know:

Food additives are part of food, and always have been. Sugar, salt, and vinegar are probably the oldest known kinds of additives, used as preservatives. Other additives are used to preserve or enhance coloring, improve a food’s texture or viscosity, and to add vitamins and minerals.

As food engineering advances, so do the chemical compounds that make up the various additives. Unfortunately, not all effects of a certain chemical are immediately apparent. It may take decades to understand that a certain compound is responsible for averse health conditions.

Additives won’t be going away any time soon. The B2B market for additives is projected to grow to $33 Billion in a few years!

What to do at the supermarket:

By law, a product’s ingredient list must show the additives used. If you see a long list with unknown terms, you can be sure that some are additives. The best way to avoid them is to buy minimally or non processed foods, usually found in the outer perimeter of the supermarket. These basic products require you to cook, bake, or otherwise prepare them. It will take you more time and effort than popping a TV dinner in the microwave, but you’ll enjoy a healthier and tastier meal.

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Dannon Activia

More good news for consumers. Dannon, manufacturer of 100 dairy products such as Activia, Light & Fit, DanActive and Danimals, will stop using milk from cows injected with bovine growth hormones (rBST / rGBH). The plan is to be 100% hormone free by the end of 2009.

From DairyReporter.com:

[Dannon] said the move is a result of consumer feedback. “This is a response to our market evaluation and consumer preference,” Dannon’s senior director of public relations Michael Neuwirth told DairyReporter.com.

“When General Mills make their announcement, we naturally got many questions. This is something we’ve been working on for some time but because there is no real safety issue here we’ve been quite low-key about it,” said Neuwirth.

Read the entire article…

What you need to know:

BST (bovine somatotropin) is a hormone cows naturally produce and found in their bodies. The more of this hormone a cow has, the more milk it produces. In the early 1990’s, an artificial growth hormone, rBST (a.ka. rBGH), was developed by agriculture giant Monsanto. While this seems like good news, when you mess with nature, there are always consequences.

The rBST hormone itself has no effect on humans, but the “consequences” do:
1. Cows injected with the hormone tend to be sicker due to inflammations of their much larger udders, and therefore receive more antibiotics. The antibiotics then find their way into your milk and your body.
2. rBST additionally increases the level of an insulin type growth factor in the milk (IGF-1). This, again, finds its way into the human body. Though in most cases our stomach acids digest it, sometimes IGF-1 gets into the bloodstream, and for some people this raises the risk of cancer.

Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the EU banned rBGH.

Dannon is an international dairy powerhouse, and owns about one third of the US yogurt market, tied with General Mill’s Yoplait. Having these two giants make the move will probably line up all of the smaller manufacturers as well.

What to do at the supermarket:

Until the end of 2009, buying organic is the sure way to avoid milk products from rBGH-free cows, albeit at a higher price.

On conventional products, you will not find a label mentioning the presence or absence of growth hormones or antibiotics.

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