'Natural' Cereals Are Just As Unhealthy, Unnatural As Others, Says Report

HuffPost Food has covered the vacuity of the food makers' claims of their products' natural-ness before. But the evidence just keeps piling up.

This time, the target is cereal. A blistering new report on the state of the market from the Cornucopia Institute shows that many cereal makers are drastically overstating the natural-ness of their products. Many cereals are billed as all-natural and are festooned with earthy-looking color schemes and typography, but actually are no healthier or more natural than faker-looking competitors. This allows manufacturers to charge higher prices to customers looking for healthier, more ecologically friendly choices, without increasing the cost of production.

Some such cereals were once produced on a small scale, with truly natural ingredients -- only to have their makers' purchased by larger, more unscrupulous organizations. The classic cited in the report is Kashi, which was bought by Kellogg's in 2000. Today, for example, Kashi's 7 Whole Grain Honey Puffs cereal is arguably less healthy than Frosted Flakes, also produced by Kellogg's. Kashi has more calories per half-cup and has none of the added vitamins of Frosted Flakes.

The most obvious solution, at least from the perspective of consumer and ecological well-being, would be for cereal makers to transition away from the natural label, which is unregulated, to organics, which is tightly monitored by the USDA. That might not make the cereals tons healthier -- but it would at least be a marker of something good for the planet rather than a marker of nothing at all.