Last year in my public relations class we had a speaker visit from an organic food company. To be honest, I don't remember his name or even his company. What I do remember is one important piece of information he shared with us: foods labeled "all natural" are NOT required to be all natural.

What does this even mean? Well it means that foods enhanced with artificial preservatives, pesticides and engineered ingredients are being passed off as 100% natural products on a daily basis. Food companies get away with this all the time. They've studied consumers extensively, capitalizing on the fact that the general public is not only more likely to buy a product if the word "natural" appears on its packaging, but also on the common misconception that "all natural" means organic and chemical free.

The fact is, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that regulates food safety laws in the United States, has no legal definition for "natural" or "all natural." Because of this, almost any food can be "natural."

Not only in the food industry, but in the beauty and health industries as well, it's important to read through a product's actual ingredients before believing that it is natural. Because, apparently, the food industry has a very unique understanding of the word.