How To Read Holiday Food Labels

With the holidays here, you’re probally trying to purchase healthy, eco-friendly foods for your holiday table. Looking at healthy food labels can be somewhat confusing though – here’s a breakdown…

Certified Organic: This is about the best label you can find. This label means a food item is at least 95% organic, although they may be more; up to 100% organic. This Certified Organic label is regulated by the USDA and all foods wearing this label must be grown without chemicals, synthetic fertilizers, hormones, and other genetically altered baddies. Also, this label means the food can’t contain artificial colors or flavors, although some added enzymes, waxes, and acids are allowed. NOTE: sometimes the above label is black, it’s still ok. So long as it says USDA Organic, you’re good.

Natural: This is an iffy label and can look like anything. If you see “Natural” on a food item, it just doesn’t mean much. There are no legal standards for the term natural. The good news is that if a company claims natural, and they’re not, there are watchdog policies in place (not extensive) that call them on it, and a federal fine may be issued. Plenty of chemically enhanced foods wear some sort of natural label, so if you see this, a good idea is to read the ingredient list, see what’s actually in the product, and take it from there.

Made With Organic Ingredients: The USDA does certify this label, but it’s not as good as the organic label you see at the top of this post. Regulations state that food labeled “made with organic ingredients” only have to be 70% organic. Often, weird stuff like genetically modified grains and plants are allowed in products labeled like this.

Coming up, we’ll look at other food labels for the holiday, such as Fair Trade, GMO, and more. Stay tuned.