Since starting Paleo I have become a label reading Nazi. I read labels everywhere, for everything, and if there is something in there that I don't recognize or doesn't seem possible without processing, I usually put it back.
Obviously this means I spend a fair amount of time in the little health market part of Dillons (as well in the actual health market, Natural Grocers, across the street). And this also means that I spend a fair amount of time distinguishing between "organic" and "all natural".
My husband has, on a few occasions, brought home groceries very proud of himself because he thought he'd stayed within paleo, only to find that I can't eat all of it afterall. Why? Because "organic" is not necessarily Paleo.
Here's an example: One night we were at Dillons looking for some stewed tomatoes. We looked at lots of options, including Dillons' Simple Truth brand of organic products but most all of them had calcium carbonide in there as a preservative. So, being the compliant Paleo participant that I am, they were out. And the husband was really surprised because he had assumed that organic meant they were good.
So what's the difference? Organic refers to the cultivation process. For something to be "organic" it has to be grown or raised without synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics, etc. Organic does not refer to what happens to the food after it leaves the farm.
"All natural" on the other hand generally refers to food which not only does not have the synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, etc., but also has been minimally processed - which is what Paleo is all about.
For the record, organic has a legal definition. However, "all natural" doesn't have a legal definition so it can mean a lot of things. Organic is a good thing, but it doesn't always automatically translate into Paleo. And this is why I am an obsessive label reader.
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