Non-GMO? Organic? Natural? What does it all mean?!

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Ever walk through a grocery store and see all these fancy words on food labels that make no sense and you don’t know if you should buy it or not?? There are so many ways that food companies try to market their products to make consumers more likely to buy them or more likely to choose their product over another.

Common trends, like “non-GMO”, “organic”, “hormone free”, are used to make the item more attractive to consumers.  Even if they might not know what exactly it all means!

However, some of these words sound better than what their requirement entails. Since consumers don’t necessarily know all the rules and regulations, it’s easy to be confused!

Here are some of the more common words you might find on food packaging and what their requirements are:

“Organic” – Crops or animal products that have been approved by the USDA to meet specific standards regarding the care and treatment of animals or the prohibited use of substances, additives, and genetic engineering

Can be labeled “100% organic” if all ingredients meet organic standards
“Organic” if 95% of ingredients are considered organic
Made with organic ingredients” if 70% of ingredients are organic


“Natural” – minimally processed, containing no artificial ingredients or added color
  • Must disclose on packaging what makes it natural

“Free Range” – the animal has access to the outside
  • No minimum space or time requirements

“No hormones” – hormones were not used in the animal
  • Must provide accurate documentation for beef that no hormones were used
  • Hormones are not permitted to be used in pork or poultry
    • Even though hormones are not allowed in the raising of pork and poultry, companies still might include the label “no hormones added” to make the product more appealing.
    • The "No hormones added” claim must be followed by “Federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones”

“Non-GMO”- any organism that was not altered with genetic engineering or technology
  •  Genetic engineering changes the genetic makeup to create other forms of the organism that does not naturally occur in nature
  • “Non-GMO Project" label on foods ensures the product was not changed genetically and it is in its natural form

NT



Non-GMO Project. (2018). What is a GMO? Retrieved from https://www.nongmoproject.org/gmo-facts/what-is-gmo/

United State Department of Agriculture (USDA). (2015). Meat and poultry labeling terms. Retrieved from https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/food-labeling/meat-and-poultry-labeling-terms/meat-and-poultry-labeling-terms



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