Beverage marketer Cadbury Schweppes is in a skirmish with a watchdog group over just exactly what the word "natural" means when it comes to describing food products. The argument began after Cadbury
began promoting its 7Up lemon-lime carbonated soda brand as being "100 percent natural," a claim that was disputed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which said the claim is misleading.
The Center says the drink contains fructose corn syrup, which is artificially made by extracting starch from corn and altering it with enzymes or acids. But Cadbury counters that 7-Up is in fact
natural, because sugar made from corn is made virtually the same way as many ingredients that are called natural. So the question remains, what exactly constitutes "natural" when it comes to food?
"'Natural,' as it stands, is not currently defined by the FDA, so there is some issue there," said Daniel Fabricant of the National Nutritional Foods Association. As it turns out, the natural label
appears on products as diverse as oatmeal, potato chips, cookies and ice cream. The FDA has been asked to define what "natural" means, but for now the agency says manufacturers' labels must be
truthful and not misleading.
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