Food Labeling Confusion

Have you been as confused as I am regarding food labels and what the terms really mean? Do they even mean anything? Some do, some don’t.  Unfortunately, much of the wording means absolutely nothing. Labels are used for marketing rather than relaying anything about the product and are tricky. Consumer beware! It pays to know which labels and descriptions you can rely on.

I will help sort through the confusion!

Woman grocery shopping reading label on milk bottle.

Here is a list of descriptions you commonly see on food products:

• All Natural

• 100% Natural

• Natural flavors

• Natural sweeteners

• Enriched

• Fortified

• Made with real fruit

• Fat-free, low-fat, reduced-fat, cholesterol-free

• Multigrain

• Whole grain

• Made with whole grains

• No added sugar, sugar-free, zero calories, diet, low-calorie

• Low glycemic index

• Low-carb

• Keto-friendly

• Low sodium, reduced sodium

• Heart healthy, heart smart, heart label

• Free range

• Farm-raised

• Pasture-raised

• No antibiotics/antibiotic-free

• Free of hormones/raised without hormones/no artificial hormones given

• Growth hormone-free/rBGH-free/rBST-free

• Grass-fed

• Wild-caught

• Non-GMO

• 100% certified organic

• Certified organic (95%)

• Made with organic ingredients (70%)

I will start with truly misleading and worthless terms describing a product, then move on to those with meaning. Hopefully, after reading this, you will know what to look for and what to watch out for.

First, the meaningless:

The words natural and artificial shown with a green checkmark next to natural.

• All Natural

• Natural flavors

• Natural sweeteners

• Made with natural ingredients

• No artificial colors or flavors

The term natural is not regulated. Although natural sounds healthy, unprocessed, and wholesome, this word is simply a marketing tool. You will find this on many processed food labels. These foods are still loaded with sugar, salt, fats, additives, GMOs, etc. A processed product contains unnatural and synthetic items, so look at the ingredient label to decide. Natural does NOT mean organic or GMO-free. Grocery items labeled natural are usually anything but.

• Multigrain

• Whole grain

• Made with whole grains

These terms sound good. However, unless you find the whole grain label, then the product is likely loaded with other refined grains and flour. Otherwise, there is no regulation on what percentage of a product contains whole grains. Multigrain may have multiple grains, but they may all be refined, not whole grains.

Copy of the whole grain stamp to look for on food items, ensuring the item contains whole, not refined grains.

• Made with real fruit

There could be a small amount of real fruit, but the rest are additives and sweeteners.

• Farm-raised

• Pasture-raised

• Free-range

• Cage-free

Girl holding a basket of fresh eggs and a board stating "free range".

These are misleading since they imply good treatment when raising the animal. There is no regulation or standardization for these terms unless USDA-certified. They may be let outside briefly with insufficient space to roam freely. The American Humane Certified seal ensures more humane treatment with adequate daily outdoor space.

Next, somewhat meaningless, and not healthy:

• No added sugar 

• Sugar-free, zero calories, diet, low calorie

• Low glycemic index

• Low-carb

• Keto-friendly

These terms typically mean that the amount of natural sugar or carbohydrate content has been lowered to reduce the calories. Additional sugar may be added to the natural sugar present. These are intended to reduce sugar intake. However, the sugar has to be replaced by something for sweetness, often with artificial sweeteners. Fats or other additives may also be used. Much of what is used are synthetic, unnatural chemicals that may be worse than sugar. Simply because it contains less sugar does not mean it is healthy.

• Fat-free

• Low-fat

• Reduced fat

• Cholesterol-free

These items have less fat, but that fat had to be replaced with something. When fat is removed, food is less tasty, so fat is often replaced with sugar. This was the beginning of the obesity trend. Thinking that heart disease was caused by too much fat in the diet, food manufacturers came up with low-fat products. They replaced the fat with more sugar, leading to a significant increase in sugar consumption, leading to…heart disease!

Heart healthy stamp of the American Heart Association.

• Heart healthy

• Heart smart

• Heart check label

I want to say these mean something. Unfortunately, even the American Heart Association promotes some unhealthy products, because it receives funding from these food companies, which include PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Bayer, Procter-Gamble, Kellogg's, and Frito Lay. It is best to read the label, look at the ingredients, then decide. 

• Enriched

• Fortified

Enriched means that the nutrients lost during processing were added back. Fortified means that additional nutrients that were not present were added. Neither necessarily makes the product better or more healthy. The nutrients (usually vitamins or minerals) added back are not in their natural form and may not be absorbed by the body as well. There is no proven benefit in adding these nutrients other than folic acid and vitamin D.

Somewhat meaningful:

• Low sodium

• Reduced sodium

• No salt/salt-free

This is helpful for those needing to watch their salt intake.

Be aware that reduced sodium means a sodium reduction of 25% compared to the regular version.

Low sodium means no more than 140 mg sodium per serving, meaning you have to pay attention to serving sizes.

No salt or salt-free means just that.

• Raised without antibiotics

• No antibiotics ever

• Antibiotic-free

These fall in a bit of a gray area since these should mean what they say - that the animal has not received any antibiotics in their feed, water, or directly injected - however, companies self-report without specific regulation or oversight.

And finally, something with meaning:

100% Grass-fed

This means that the animals (cattle) were never confined to a feedlot and roamed in pastures to eat grass only. This is compared to grain-fed or grass-finished, where an animal was either fed all grain or grain before being fed grass. Meat from grass-fed rather than grain-fed animals is higher in omega-3 fatty acids.

Cows grazing in a pasture. Grass-fed beef means the cattle roamed freely and their meat is higher in omega-3 fatty acid content.

• No added hormones

• Hormone-free

• Raised without hormones

• No artificial hormones

• Growth hormone-free

• rBGH-free/rBST-free

These terms are used on dairy products to denote that the cows were not administered any hormones, either directly or in their feed, to increase milk production. Producers of chickens, turkeys, and eggs are not allowed to use hormones, so these do not have meaning for those products. rBGH and rBST refer to bovine growth hormones.

Wild-caught

This refers to seafood and means that the fish is caught in rivers, lakes, or oceans, in their native habitat compared to being raised in fish farms or tanks. They have eaten a natural diet. Since they are not confined, they are usually leaner than farm-raised and may have a higher nutrient content.

The Non-GMO label ensuring nothing in the item has been bioengineered.

• Non-GMO

• Not Bioengineered

These terms were reviewed in 2 previous articles. See What are GMOs 2/19/25 and Avoiding GMOs 2/26/25.

To summarize, non-GMO means not altered genetically by genetic engineering or bioengineering in which the DNA of an item is changed or has another organism’s DNA incorporated into it. Non-GMO does NOT mean organic, but an organic label does guarantee the item is non-GMO. The non-GMO label is based on third-party testing, not the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), and is voluntary by the farmer.

An organic produce section at a grocery store.

• 100% Certified Organic

• Certified Organic

• Made with Organic Ingredients

To achieve this label, farming methods are regulated and adhere to strict standards. This is certified by the USDA. Certified organic means the food contains at least 95-100% organic ingredients. 

This means NO

• GMOs 

• antibiotics

• artificial ingredients (preservatives, colors, additives)

• synthetic herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers

and animals are fed organic, non-GMO feed.

If it states "made with organic ingredients", only 70% of the item must come from organic ingredients.

As I said in the beginning, it is confusing! The best advice is to read labels. No question that the back of the box or can is much more informative than the front!