Dive Brief:

• The Center for Science in the Public Interest is threatening legal action over the marketing language used by a number of major food and beverage brands.
• The advocacy group wants Kraft to stop using "natural" to describe its Crystal Light lemonades, wants Smart Balance to stop claiming its Blended Butter Sticks "help block cholesterol," and wants Abbott Laboratories to stop making deceptive claims about the health properties of Ensure drinks.
• The move comes as the Grocery Manufacturers of America lobbies for laws that would allow the use of the word "natural" even to describe GMO food.

Dive Insight:

The ongoing battle over the use of the term "natural" and similar phrases is one of constant frustration to us. But food companies continue to use less-than-forthright language because it works. Our wish is that the FDA would assume its natural role and make some decisions here. But the regulators appear unwilling to regulate this issue. So we're faced with an endless stream of litigation. That seems unlikely to change. Outrageous and indefensible claims, combined with an absentee regulatory system and an overly litigious society, mixed with a shockingly unhealthy and obese population, has become the natural state of America.