Difference between natural and organic

Question

For products such as bread, state they are either natural or organic, what is the difference?

Answer

Natural is purely a marketing term, and it is essentially meaningless since it isn't regulated by the USDA (I'm assuming you are in the USA, I can't speak for other countries). Since the term isn't regulated (with the apparent exception of meat), any manufacturer can put it on any (non-meat) product that they want, weather it is actually "natural" or not.

Organic is well-defined by the USDA and places a number of restrictions on the types of pesticides and other chemicals that can be used to grow the crop. For things like meat, the organic label regulates both the drugs that the animal is given as well as the production of the feed.

Certified organic food products are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and produced by farmers and manufacturers under a strict set of rules. But the agency defines the term "natural" only for meat and poultry. In the rest of the food industry, the meaning is largely up to the producer.

See: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-07-10/business/chi-natural-foods-10-jul10_1_organics-or-least-chip-popular-horizon-organic-brand-organic-industry-watchdog-group

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