Basically, the difference between natural and organic stems from an official designation set forth by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for organic foods. In 2000, the <span>USDA </span>published its official positionon organic foods and made its production a matter for strict supervision and legal regulation. While there are several criteria for organic foods, in order to be labeled "organic," food must have been grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides (with some rare exceptions), antibiotics, irradiation, genetic engineering, or growth hormones. According to the <span>USDA, </span>"organic" is a labeling term that denotes products that are produced under the authority of the Organic Foods Production Act. Additionally, organic farming involves growing systems that enhance biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity.
On the other hand, natural foods have no legal or federal supervision at all, and are not defined by any law or criteria. While the <span>USDA </span>does require that products list their ingredients in descending order of concentration, there is no official stipulation for the amount of natural ingredients a food must contain to be deemed as such. A food labeled "natural" is usually considered to contain less preservatives and chemical additives than other kinds of processed foods, though since there is no way to legally supervise the product, no sure answer may be set forth.
