The most popular food label term that consumers say they look for is locally grown, cited by 67% in a survey by Consumer Reports. Thats followed by natural at 59%, even though that term is only loosely defined by US regulators. (The FDA allows natural on products containing nothing artificial or synthetic, while the USDA says natural meats must have no artificial ingredient or added color and be only minimally processed.) Most of those surveyed said they thought natural should mean roughly what the tightly defined organic actually guarantees, such as no pesticides or genetically modified (GMO) ingredients. In addition to organic, mentioned by 49%, other popular label language included non-GMO (40%), raised without antibiotics (39%) and fair trade (31%).
