The consumer is faced with many choices when considering products for their home, office or business.  Organic and natural products are often confused, and a general lack of oversight still exists to some degree.  What exactly is 'natural' when used in reference to a product? 

Facts About the Nutrition Industry

Note: All figures are for 2006.

The U.S. nutrition industry reached sales of $85 billion.

U.S. industry is broken down into the following categories:

Source: Nutrition Business Journal

According to the website, Associated Content, "Lately, there has been a change in cosmetics, household cleaning products, food and even dog foods which have coined two phrases: 'organic' and 'natural'. Are the two terms interchangeable or do they have two different meanings? The answer is no, they are not interchangeable. Basically the only thing in common is that each product using these two labels substitute a chemical product with natural or organic materials that are supposed to be not only better for the user but also the environment.

Although the FDA requires manufactures to list all ingredients in descending order of concentration on the product labels it does not regulate the term 'organic' or 'natural'. Many manufactures have made up strict regulations internally to abide by for all products that are produced within their walls.

Organic simply means that the botanical product was grown in a chemical-free environment. Natural on the other hand means that the final product has been made solely from botanical resources without any use of additives or preservatives. Some popular organic products are Dr. Hauschka's, Juice Beauty and L'Occitane.

For American cosmetic companies many companies follow along with the National Organic Program which is a part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture which requires that at least 95% of the product is organic. For products that are certified organic, one will notice there is a stamp of approval or states it is has been certified as organic. To make things more confusing for consumers, there are products available that state they are 'made with organic ingredients'. This means there is at least 70% of organic material that has been used."

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Investing in Consumer products companies that are natural and organic can be achieved by investing directly in the companies that manufacture natural and organic products, the merchants that support natural and organic products and by purchasing these products directly yourself.