SMARTIES are healthy, my children told me last week 鈥� because the packaging says the sweets contain no artificial colours or flavours. Their claims didn鈥檛 fly with me but I can鈥檛 blame them for trying. They have absorbed the Western world鈥檚 cultural obsession with all things 鈥渘atural鈥�.
Plenty of foods for adults also have packaging that proclaims their content to be au naturel. And numerous dietary trends tap into similar ideals, like clean eating, organic food and the Paleo diet, in which we are encouraged to emulate our Stone-Age ancestors.
The claims made for these foods and diets are debatable, to say the least. Indeed, the US Food and Drug Administration is currently engaged in a about which foods should be allowed to use the 鈥渘atural鈥� label.
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It鈥檚 a messy issue and one the agency has been pushed to address after more than 50 lawsuits were brought by consumers angered by 鈥渁ll natural鈥� claims on products. Expect drawn-out discussions about the status of colourings made from vegetables, the merits of fermentation over pasteurisation, and whether the to introduce desirable traits are GMOs.
The veneration of all things natural applies to far more than what we put in our mouths. The concept has many tentacles and is at the core of a diverse array of anti-scientific sentiment.
鈥淭he naturalistic fallacy is something you can indulge in from a position of prosperity鈥�
Many forms of alternative medicine, such as those on the worryingly popular , are promoted on the basis that they are more natural than what鈥檚 on offer from mainstream doctors 鈥� as if that should be prioritised over whether they really work or are safe.
The anti-vaccine movement is based on the belief that it is desirable for a child to get infected with measles because that鈥檚 how we would have encountered these microbes in nature. And the natural childbirth industry flourishes despite modern medicine transforming birth from something inherently dangerous to inherently safe.
The Green movement has done much good in raising awareness of the dangers of global warming, but it often falls into the trap of thinking that Mother Nature is always best.
Its blanket opposition to GM food makes no sense. We have been genetically modifying our crops for millennia; current GM food presents no threat to health and could help solve nutritional deficiencies. It鈥檚 vital to step back from using antibiotics in farming, but many people would not be alive today if not for modern agriculture.
These sentiments are partly a reaction to countless instances of bad behaviour by Big Food and Big Pharma. But we should be careful not to let the pendulum swing too far the other way. Our ancestors鈥� lives were difficult and short. As a woman, my natural fate would have been a continual struggle to feed a succession of children who may not have made it to adulthood 鈥� and that鈥檚 if I survived their births.
In some countries, that鈥檚 how things still are. In those places, people are crying out for the benefits of modern medicine and a modern food supply. 鈥淭he naturalistic fallacy is something you can indulge in from a position of prosperity,鈥� says Michael Fitzpatrick, a London-based writer and sceptic.
Given the choice, I鈥檒l take modern medicine, a warm house and a full refrigerator. Those of us who live long and comfortable lives do so precisely because we have conquered nature.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淕oing 鈥榥atural鈥� is doing the world no favours鈥�
