Field Guide · Glossary
Natural
Food and labelsOn a pet food label, an AAFCO-defined term for ingredients from plant, animal or mined sources that have not been through a chemically synthetic process.
How it works
Unlike most marketing words on packaging, this one does have a definition, and the definition is narrower than the impression it creates. It describes how ingredients were derived and makes no claim about quality, safety or nutritional value. Because a complete diet needs vitamins and minerals that are usually synthetic, most foods carrying the word also carry a qualifier, and that qualifier is the part worth reading.
What it looks like
A bag reads natural with added vitamins, minerals and trace nutrients. The qualifier is doing real work: the food is natural under the definition, and the nutrients keeping it complete are synthetic.
Commonly confused with
- Premium
- Natural has an AAFCO definition, however narrow. Premium has none at all. One word is regulated and limited; the other is decoration.
Related terms