"Consumers probably find this marketplace subterfuge less surprising when they learn that many of the leading "natural' cereal brands are really manufactured by giant agribusinesses like Kellogg's, hiding behind the faà §ade of well-established niche brands," said Harry Bennett, a marketing official with the Kansas Organic Producers Association, a cooperative of marketing organic grain.
Despite finding that "natural" cereal products offer few, if any, advantages over conventional products, companies typically charge substantially high prices for products with "natural" labeling claims.
Analysis by Cornucopia of wholesale and retail cereal and granola prices revealed that "natural" products often are priced higher than equivalent organic products. This suggests that some companies are profiting from consumer confusion.
For example, prices in the leading natural/organic food distributor's wholesale catalog for multigrain flakes show that two of the least expensive products are actually certified organic, offered by industry leader Nature's Path and Food for Life. Meanwhile, Kashi's 7-grain cereal, made with cheaper non-organic grains by the multinational corporation Kellogg but disguised as an independent sounding "natural" brand, is priced higher than equivalent organic options.
Karen Zwicky of Minneapolis, MN said she just bought several boxes of Kashi cereal for her 2 year old daughter, who she's been feeding a "pretty" strict organic diet.
"Target was handing out samples of Kashi, and she loved the taste and I trusted the brand, even though it isn't labeled as organic," Zwicky explained. "I don't mind that the big brands buy out the smaller organic and more sustainable companies, what really is disturbing to me is that it seems that they are only doing so in order to buy consumer trust."
"Committed organic companies, rated highly in the Cornucopia's online scorecard, must compete against giant multinationals such as Kraft Foods (Back to Nature), Pepsico (Mother's) and Kellogg's (Bear Naked /Kashi) and misleading "natural" marketing claims," stated Mark A. Kastel, Codirector at the Wisconsin-based Cornucopia Institute. "When marketers intentionally mislead consumers with their "natural" products, they are taking business away from the companies providing truly safe and healthy food and supporting certified organic farmers."
- 30-
MORE:
Become an expert in 4 min. (YouTube video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sw2uEupTwo
Organic farmers in the US received lower prices for their grains as cereal companies drop their demand for certified organic ingredients and switch to "natural" labeling and cheap, conventional ingredients.
According to research by the Natural Marketing Institute, a market research firm, two-thirds of U.S. consumers believe foods today are less safe to eat because of chemicals used during the growing and processing of foods. Given this widespread interest in avoiding foodborne chemicals, it is increasingly important for consumers to realize that buying "natural" foods does little, if anything, to avoid synthetic inputs and toxins used on the farms and inside the manufacturing plants.
"While calling their products natural, some of the largest breakfast cereal manufacturers are adding ingredients processed with the neurotoxic solvent hexane, a processing agent that is banned in organic food production," added Kastel.
Hexane is a solvent commonly used to separate the oil, fiber and protein from grains and seeds. Some granola and cereal manufacturers use soy ingredients, such as soy grits and soy protein isolate, which are commonly hexane-extracted and can contain residues.
Debra Boschee, an astute consumer from Rapid City, South Dakota, said "It isn't the things we know that scare us, it's the things we don't know, such as "what's really in my food.'"
In addition to accessing The Cornucopia Institute's new scorecard, comparing the nation's natural and organic cereal brands, families who are interested in feeding their families the safest and most nutritional food can also find the ratings of over 120 organic dairy brands, to augment a healthy breakfast, on the Cornucopia website: http://www.cornucopia.org
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
