Horizon, the commercial organic milk producer, is introducing its first new non-organic products for children. These will be labeled “natural,” not organic. Horizon’s press people say the products “don’t contain growth hormones and will be easier on the pocketbook…These are our first natural offerings in the marketplace, and Horizon always tries to provide great-tasting products for moms and for families.” Really?

“Natural” is an odd term. It has no regulatory meaning. Meats that are “natural” are supposed to be minimally processed and if their labels say they were produced without antibiotics or hormones the statements have to be truthful and not misleading. As I discussed in What to Eat, meat retailers can’t tell the difference between “natural” and organic and neither can a lot of consumers. Retailers are happy to charge the same high prices for the “natural” products and consumers think they are buying organics. This is not a good situation.

So why would a company ostensibly devoted to the principles and practice of organics suddenly decide to start marketing “natural” products? For the answer, I defer to Mark Kastel of the Cornucopia Institute who sent this message today: