NATURAL does NOT mean ORGANIC!

By Catherine J. Frompovich

When is the word “natural” misleading in advertising? That’s the basis for a lawsuit filed August 25, 2016 against General Mills, maker of the brand Nature Valley Granola Bars, who label their products’ packages with the words “Made with 100% NATURAL whole grain OATS.” The lawsuit was filed by Beyond Pesticides, Moms Across America, and Organic Consumers Association using the Richman Law Group [1] in Washington, DC, citing the District of Columbia’s Consumer Protection Procedure Act.

Glyphosate, a key herbicide chemical active in several commercial and agricultural herbicides, has been found in General Mills’ natural granola bars. Since when is a man-made toxic chemical considered natural? So, three consumer groups filed a lawsuit and rightfully so, I think.

Jay Feldman, Executive Director of Beyond Pesticides, says

Glyphosate cannot be considered ‘natural’ because it is a toxic, synthetic herbicide.

Identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a carcinogen, it should not be allowed for use in food production, and certainly not in food with a label that suggests to consumers that the major ingredient –oats– is 100% natural, when it is produced with and contains the highly hazardous glyphosate.

Glyphosate [1] is highly toxic, although it does not come under the category of an organophosphate [2]—one of the most serious types of herbicides causing central nervous system damage.

In March 2015 the World Health Organization‘s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic in humans” (category 2A) based on epidemiological studies, animal studies, and in vitro studies. [3, 7]

Zen Honeycutt, Founder and Executive Director of Moms Across America, offers this:

As a mother, when I read “100% Natural” I would expect that to mean no synthetic or toxic chemicals at all. Glyphosate is a toxic chemical that the EPA recognizes as a “reproductive effector” which “can cause liver and kidney damage” and “digestive effects.” It is unacceptable that Nature Valley granola bars contain any amount of this chemical.