All-Natural Snake Oil: Difference between revisions

It should also be borne in mind that in food, the difference between natural and artificial colours and flavourings refers to how the molecules were made, and not what those molecules actually are. In truth, natural and artificial flavours are exactly the same molecules - the only difference is that one is extracted from plants using a variety of chemicals, while the other is made by reacting chemicals together in a test tube. Food chemists will tell you that "all natural colors and flavorings" just means "we made them the hard way". Just remember that rattlesnake venom is all-natural too.

 

 

Not ''entirely'' synonymous with the product peddled by the [[Snake Oil Salesman]], but there are plenty of cases where they ''are'' one and the same. See also [[Spice Rack Panacea]]. The [[Granola Girl]] often swears by this stuff.

 

This trope is ''not'' in play if natural is being used in the sense found in ideas like "natural law", where it means closer to "proper" and "fitting" rather than simply "not artificial". "Crime against nature", for instance, is (usually) using "nature" in that sense, not merely "crap humans didn't make" or "crap that happens on its own", otherwise ''every'' human action involving a tool would be one. The fact that the term has those two, related but different, senses, is probably where this trope originates; using terms ambiguously is a classic ploy in advertising and propaganda. (If you are interested, [[CS Lewis (Creator)|CS Lewis]]'s ''Studies in Words'' has a chapter on "Nature" that goes into the relationship in depth.)

 

* Given the name, if you thought the Natural Confectionery Company was a notably bad offender, you would be right. One [[Egregious]] example had a man reassure his daughter that the (jelly) snakes they were going to eat had no artificial colours or preservatives, and so were totally non-venomous. Because, as everybody knows, snake venom is completely artificial.

** Buttered popcorn is a bit better, where "natural flavor" usually means "we took the ingredients for butter, we just didn't turn them into actual butter".

* The advertising for many "natural" products makes a big deal about not using "refined sugar"; but are instead "fruit juice sweetened". The problem with this claim is that the "fruit juice" used is actually [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0813/is_n8_v18/ai_11450786/ ''deionized'' fruit juice]. This is essentially bland-tasting juice -- apple, white grape, or pear -- filtered to strip out all remaining flavour, colour, and nutritional content; leaving only the sugar and water content. That's right, it's nothing but sugar water under a different name. It's the exact same form of sugar as the supposedly "unnatural" refined version, just pre-diluted, and costing several times as much. The only reason that deionized fruit juice exists is to legally allow the product to advertise itself as "all natural".

* Many manufacturers of snack chips (we're looking at you, Frito-Lay) like to point out that their products are "all natural." They do have a better claim than much of this list - most chips are just potato slices/batter or cornmeal, fried in plant oil and salted. The problem is that there's more than enough oil to be fattening - Fritos in particular are so soaked in it that they ''quick-burn''.

** Having seen Fritos used as kindling, it's surprising they've never marketed it as having more practical uses than as a snack.