While it is true that there is no official, U.S. governmentregulated definition for the term natural pertaining to the natural products
industry, the FDA refers to natural ingredients as "ingredients extracted
directly from plants or animal products as opposed to being produced
synthetically."
The key word there is, "extracted directly". In
the case of some ingredients, it's easy to see that they fit easily into this
definition.
But what about raw materials that need to undergo someprocessing or chemical reaction in order to extract the ingredient from the
natural raw material that is the source.Even distilling aromatic plants to produce essential oils
sometimes results in the creation of chemicals that didn't exist in the raw
material, but which are created by the actual distillation process alone!
The USDA National Organic Program defines non-synthetic as
"a substance that is derived from mineral, plant, or animal matter and
does not undergo a synthetic process".
They define a synthetic as "a substance that is formulated or
manufactured by a chemical process or by a process that chemically changes a
substance extracted from naturally occurring plant, animal, or mineral sources,
except that such term shall not apply to substances created by naturally
occurring biological processes."
The Natural Ingredient Resource Center was founded to help
consumers, manufacturers and retailers, focusing on natural products for the
home and family, to learn more about the natural ingredients in the products
they buy, make or sell. To encourage and provide an opportunity for
manufacturers of these products to voluntarily show that they support
"truth in labeling" and to provide a resource for education about
natural ingredients. The NARC does not certify ingredients, products or police
compliance. Visit our Pledge Members Links page for the best in products
containing natural ingredients. Because natural matters!

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