If you’re like any person who is striving to be healthy, you might be having a hard time figuring out what exactly are the healthy choices at the grocery store.
Below, I put together a list of a few common terms that you probably see during your weekly trips to the supermarket.
So which ones are best? I created a quick little cheatsheet to help you make healthier choices, which you can grab for free at the end of this post.
Organic
The USDA regulates the use of this term, which means that if you don’t have the “organic” certification, it’s illegal to call your product organic.
For produce, this term is great. It means being grown without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or other artificial substances. Look for a “9” in front of the other numbers on the SKU sticker. Locally organic produce is even better.
For meat, however, it’s not necessarily the best in terms of quality, but it is definitely better than conventional meat. Animals must be raised without the use of hormones or antibiotics, which is a good thing.
This can mean their “feed” is also organic, however, which is not necessarily a good thing. Farmers can feed them organic soy, corn, or other grains instead of what they’re actually supposed to eat.
Cows are supposed to eat different types of grasses. Pigs naturally forage for items like acorns, mushrooms, root vegetables, etc. Poultry eat plants, grubs, worms, bugs, etc. Pigs, chickens, turkeys, and ducks are not naturally vegetarians!
Soy is one of the most common allergens for humans, so eating meat that has eaten soy can be harmful to some people.
Organic can also mean that these animals have access to the outside, but may not actually get outside. Maybe there’s a small door at the end of the warehouse and unless taught how to go through the door, they may never know the outside at all! Outside = more vitamins in the meat
Naturally-raised
The USDA also regulates this term. It can mean that the animals were raised without the use of hormones (growth promoters) or unnecessary antibiotics. Antibiotics are permitted, however, if an animal gets sick, which can still be transferred to the meat you consume.
Naturally-raised, however, doesn’t give any insight on the welfare of the animals or what they ate.
Natural or All-natural
This term means way less than you might think. It does not mean that the animals were not given antibiotics, growth hormones, or even given access to the outdoors.
It is used by companies to indicate that their meat is “minimally processed,” but generally all cuts of meat are minimally processed, free of chemicals, and free of flavorings anyway. So the use of this term may be a little deceptive.
Some of these products have even been found to contain the same amounts of artificial preservatives as their “non-natural” counterparts.
Vegetarian-fed
This label on pork, poultry, or eggs means that the animals were not fed what they’re supposed to eat. Pigs, chickens, turkeys, and ducks are not vegetarians. They likely were fed soy, corn, or some other grain product.
Grass-fed
Usually used for beef, this term can mean that the animals ate grass at some point in their lives. Unless it says “100% grass-fed,” this term does not mean the animals ate grass their entire lives, even though that’s what they’re supposed to eat.
Most cows start out their lives eating grass but then are shipped off to a feedlot where they are fed conventional feed such as soy, corn, or another grain.
Or sometimes cows are raised on grass, but then fed some sort of grain to fatten them up during the last few months of their lives.
But it’s legal to say “grass-fed” on the packaging since they did in fact eat grass at some point in their lives.
Pasture-raised or Grass-finished
These are the best labels to look out for when it comes to beef, pork, poultry, and eggs. Pasture-raised means the animals were free to roam about in a natural environment and eat what they are supposed to eat: grasses and other plants, grubs, worms, bugs, roots, etc.
Bonus points if you can find a local farmer who can provide these types of meats or eggs to you.
Pasture-raised and grass-finished also has been shown to contain more nutrients, on top of tasting much better!
Cage-free
Cage-free looks nice, but these animals are kept inside crowded barns or warehouses and most likely have no access to the outside. They definitely don’t eat their natural diet.
Also, beak-cutting is permitted. Why cut chickens’ beaks? Due to crowded living conditions, fights can erupt amongst the birds. This can mean the death of a chicken or two, which means loss of profit for the farmer. They cut off beaks so that chickens aren’t able to peck and/or attack each other.
Beak-cutting is painful for the animal during and after, and can result in the animal having difficulty feeding or grooming itself.
Free-range or Roaming
These designations mean that for poultry, the animals have access to the outdoors about half of the time, and for cows, they’re not in feedlots.
Poultry can still be fed a vegetarian diet, which is not their natural diet. Also, beak-cutting and forced molting by starvation are permitted.
What is forced molting? It’s a practice by which farmers withhold food for 7-14 days to cause hens to lose all of their feathers in hopes that they will lay larger eggs.
To me, both beak-cutting and forced molting seem like extremely cruel practices, so even though not all “free-range” chicken or eggs may be subjected to these methods, I still prefer “pasture-raised” just so I’m sure.
Wild-caught
This phrase on seafood means it may have been spawned or lived some part of its life in a fish farm, but then released into the wild and caught later.
While in the fish farm, it may have been fed feed instead of its natural diet.
Wild
I thought wild-caught was the best label for seafood, but it turns out there’s one better! Wild means that it was born, lived, and was caught in the wild.
For more info
- www.ewg.org
- www.nutritionaltherapy.com/blog/
- www.humanesociety.org
- www.seafoodwatch.org
- www.sustainabletable.org
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If you want to eat better but don’t know where to start, click here for some one-on-one nutritional coaching from yours truly.
Very interesting and informative article. As much as I try to be an informed and thoughtful consumer, having the background on the various designations and categories is great!
Glad you liked it! Thank you for reading. I’m always happy to be able to shed some light on some of those topics that seem a little confusing.
I thought I was a little more knowledgeable about labels and some of these terms but I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know!! Thanks for more great info Kristen. And the ‘cheat sheet” is much appreciated!!
Great, so glad you appreciate the cheat sheet! I learned a few things myself when I was researching to write the post.