When trying to add more fresh fruits and veggies to our diet, you may consider buying either natural or organic foods. Some may say “What’s the difference?” and buy either or, while others stick to strictly buying organic foods. Today I am going to talk about the differences and similarities of the two.
*Before I go into that, I want to point out that either are fine to eat and I encourage everyone to add more fresh foods to your diet, whether it’s organic or natural*
One of the main differences between organic and natural foods are the laws and regulations they must follow. Below I will show a chart showing regulations put into place by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to regulate whether something has a “natural” or “organic” label.
As you can see, natural foods are allowed to have GMOs, antibiotics, and pesticides can be used. This leads to many foods being able to use the “natural” label, which may fool some people.
But not all organic foods are 100% organic. An item is allowed to be up to 5% non-organic and still have the organic seal on it. I have included another table from the USDA to describe Organic labels.
Though there are many differences between the two, neither one is better nor worse than the other. For some natural foods, GMOs can help them stay fresh longer than organic foods. For some organic foods, the absence of pesticides can make them easier to clean than natural foods. The argument between the two is very controversial, but I believe that it’s best to eat what’s available and affordable for you.
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