When I see a label like this:
I tend to think... 'not artificial', 'in its original state', and all that good stuff... but these days I am at a loss as to what 100% natural really is.
There are things that I consume that are not natural, and I would not expect them to be.
Case in point... canola oil.
Canola oil is highly processed, and it needs to be in order to ensure that all toxins from its point of origin (rapeseed plants) have been removed. It is a neutral-tasting oil that I happen to use from time to time and I am fine with it.
There is no '100% natural' label attached to it.
Incidentally, the 100% natural label above was on a product - purchased from a health food store - which boasts an ingredient list which includes canola oil.....
..... as well as high maltose corn syrup, sugar (in the rice crisps + more added otherwise), malt extract, fructose, maltodextrin, soy lecithin and baking soda.... none of which are natural as far as I know.
Yes... fructose comes from fruit, but extracting fructose from fruit is not quite as easy as removing the peel from a tangerine. There is a quite a process involved.
As for malt extract, let me allow the Malt Products Corporation to speak:
"Malt is the product obtained from germinated barley. Barley is first softened after cleaning by steeping with water and then allowed to germinate under controlled conditions. The germinated grain then undergoes the stages of drying, grinding, extracting, filtering, and evaporating, to produce Malt Extract with 78 to 80% solids content." -- Source
I have no problem with the manufacturer's choice of ingredients. Really. It is their right to use whatever they deem best to keep their customers satisfied.
At the end of the day, I will refrain from eating the granola bar in question because of the sheer number of sweeteners (SIX?! Really?) and not because of the highly processed ingredients.
But when they dishonestly put forward this '100% natural' nonsense, I am then left to wonder what on earth constitutes the 'natural flavor' near the bottom of the ingredient list. :-O
Anyone out there with a good granola bar recipe?
