What is Natural Food? Unlocking the Benefits of Eating Naturally

The Definition of 'Natural' Food

What constitutes a 'natural' food? Well, several dictionary definitions of the word ‘natural’ may help to clarify this question. Something that is natural is known as 'existing in or produced by nature’, 'being in accordance with or determined by nature’ and ‘based on features existing in nature’. Based on these slight variations of the same thing, it seems that to be natural, something must be in an original state or as close to the original thing as possible.

However, the food industry frequently takes some latitude with the definition of 'natural', using labelling jargon like '100% natural', or 'made with natural ingredients' slapped on the front of packaged goods. And well, it works. Research shows that people are attracted to the term 'natural', as it's considered to be synonymous with something healthy and devoid of artificial ingredients. 

Clever marketing ploys using earthy green fonts and rustic brown packaging give us as consumers the impression that we're making a more natural, and therefore healthier purchase. Many grocery items including muesli bars, yoghurt, bread, pre-made soups and sauces may indeed have natural ingredients in them, but does this mean the whole thing is natural?

If we dig deeper, Wikipedia helps more directly answer the question: what is natural food? The terms "natural food" and "all-natural food" are used in food labelling and marketing with various meanings. They typically suggest that the food has not been processed or manufactured. More specifically, this term refers to foods that contain only ingredients that naturally occur in unprocessed food.

Understanding Natural Food, Organic Food & Genetically Modified Food

While we can sit and debate the semantics of 'natural', there could be some other ways to understand this term better when it comes to food products.

Guidelines on 'Natural' Food in Australia

Unlike European countries and the United Kingdom, Australia doesn't have any formal guidelines for what constitutes a 'natural food'. According to Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ), there is no clear definition of what natural food is. But remember that plenty of packaged foods do indeed contain natural ingredients. The key is not to be duped by the wording on the front, and always flip the product over to read the ingredients list on the back.

The good news is that the FSANZ food code guidelines are very clear on labelling rules for additives, sweeteners, preservatives, GM labels and other excipients in food. So once you sift through these on an ingredients list, the other items should be simply derived from natural products, i.e. derived from animals and plants.

So what's an example of a natural food?

Something like shortbread or tomato sauce can reasonably be thought of as a natural food. If you can quickly identify ingredients like butter, sugar and flour for shortbread, with no artificial colours, flavours, preservatives or additives, then you're in a good position to make an informed choice as a consumer. These kinds of foods are considered fairly clean and are naturally better for you. The goal is to know what's in the food you buy and to confirm that the claims on the front reflect the ingredients on the back.

Is Organic Food The Same As Natural Food?

To confirm, organic food is not the same as natural food as far as farming methods and processing are concerned. As mentioned, in Australia, 'natural' is just a description, whereas 'organic' is a qualification. For a food product to successfully qualify as 'organic', the product should comprise at least 95% organic agricultural ingredients and the remaining ingredients, additives, and processing aids should be listed as acceptable under organic regulations.

To qualify as organic, every ingredient must have been grown without any synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, or herbicides. For animal products labelled as organic, the animals cannot be given growth regulators and must be fed only human-made livestock feed. While there is some overlap between 'natural' and ‘organic' foods, they cannot be classified as the same when it comes to food manufacturing.

Yes, Natural Food Can Be Processed

Take the tomato sauce and shortbread examples above. Purists may say that these foods cannot be categorised as natural, but I beg to differ. Obviously, a fresh tomato is as natural as it gets. A few processing steps (ideally as minimal as possible), combined with a couple of other natural ingredients, and you've got tomato sauce.

The reality is, a tomato lasts about a week, but tomato sauce lasts (hang on, while I read the label) about 12 months from the manufacturing date. There's a good argument in this conversation, in favour of enjoying minimally-processed natural foods as freely as their fresh counterparts. They last longer and really aren't bad for you at all. And in truth, unless you grow your own fruit and veg, the produce you find in supermarkets will have undergone one or several stages of processing anyway.

So perhaps a more nuanced take on processed food needs to be considered. There's certainly a difference between foods that have been minimally processed versus majorly processed. There's clear distinctions between rolled oats and a high fructose corn syrup-laden muesli bar with rainbow sprinkles. More importantly, there's a lot of foods that fall in between these two extremes. Natural muesli (scroll for a homemade recipe) is just a couple of steps from oats as we know them, and when you look at the ingredients, it would be considered a healthy, natural food ideal for almost anyone.

Genetically Modified Food: A Product of Nature?

The peak body for food regulation in Australia, FSANZ maintains that food modification has been around for generations. On a simple level, this is known as cross-breeding. This is a technique used to select desirable qualities in certain species, such as disease resistance and then grow another generation that carries these characteristics.

Over the last few decades, this process has been refined in laboratories and the industry of genetically modified (GM) food has boomed. Modern techniques allow for the transfer of specific traits between living organisms by copying a particular gene from one organism and inserting it into another organism to give it the desired characteristic. This can be done with plants, animals, and microorganisms. 

In Australia, GM foods are food products that come from genetically modified organisms. Currently, all the approved GM foods are derived from GM plants, such as corn plants that have a built-in resistance to insects, or soybeans that have been modified to have a specific fat profile, desirable for frying. In addition, some plants are now being developed to require less water to grow and better withstand changing climate conditions.

At face value, GM products seem like an innovative solution to ensure enough crops, seeds and oils are available to meet the growing demands of consumers, the food industry and agriculture. However, some research indicates that consuming GM foods may be harmful to human health. Many GM crops go on to produce animal feed or industrial oils and other products. So while GM products don't always end up in our food, the ones that do have undergone an intensive process, including heavy pesticide and herbicide spraying. These are all considerations to keep in mind when choosing what food to eat and the health implications that follow.

Health Benefits of Eating Natural Food

Eating food as naturally as possible confers many health benefits. You score all the naturally occurring vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that mother nature packages up for you. Natural food can help increase energy levels, improve brain function, boost the immune system and reduce inflammation. Natural foods reflective of the Mediterranean diet are the best example of these health benefits. Foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fish, quality animal protein, nuts and seeds all contain a wide variety of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that can improve overall health and help prevent disease.

Natural Foods: An Easy Way To Make Healthier Choices

It's fair to say that the term 'natural' can be misleading for consumers, and as discussed, is certainly a difficult term to define. These days, we as consumers are now paying closer attention to product labels and are becoming more inquisitive about the food we eat. It just takes some discernment to read what you're buying.

Including a wide variety of natural foods, as fresh as possible, and as close to nature as possible will ensure you're hitting the mark. Otherwise, it's best to consume whole foods that are minimally processed and have few recognisable ingredients. Or, make your own natural food recipes to reap all the health benefits each food can offer.