Abusing "Natural" (calling the bullshit known as Truvia)

First of all, have a look-see at Truvia's ingredients page. Note they have three things listed, and one of those is 'Natural Flavors' (which, yes, can include stuff derived from meat). That's not even my main problem, though; my main problem is that they mention the two 'natural' ingredients are, well, not totally there.

Google 'rebiana' and you'll learn it's actually derived from 'stevia', whose extraction process (and subsequent dangers) can be found in this Wikipedia entry.

And the first one--erithrol or whatever (I got tired of reopening the site)--look at the process listed. Crystallization, distilliation--well, that's all chemistry. I might not be a chemist but I did have to take two and a half years of it, including one of organic chemistry, and despite my best efforts I haven't forgotten anything yet. At one point, we extracted caffeine from tea/coffee/whatever...you get this lovely white powder in the end. On the road there are all matter of synthetics, weird uses of Bunsen Burners, and maybe even a little mass spectroscopy to make sure what you've got is really what you want.

I read somewhere--actually, I think it was Twitter, and now I can't find it--to paraphrase, 'Use organic for your health and natural if you're more concerned about the environment.' So...well, that's supposed to be the point of natural. It's supposed to be good for the environment.

I somehow doubt Truvia's being synthesized in super-green-friendly laboratories. I mean, they'd advertise the fuck out of something like that.

Anyway, back to their 'all natural' claim. Here's an example of something else natural: sulfites. They're spewed out from volcanoes. So it's totally okay when we produces them in large quantities via factory and such! (Sulfites have a much, much worse effect on the atmosphere than CO₂.)

Oh, also digitalis (heart medicine/heart stopper), nitrates (the artificial production of which is also raping the environment), probably Viagra (I know they were looking for heart medicine when they discovered its other utilities as a vasodilator), methane, petroleum....


Calling a product 'natural' just because its elements are derived from nature is obscene. There needs to be some kind of clamp down on this misuse of terminology.

_{this rant brought to you by a Sprite ad I saw. boycott "all natural" Sprite--they're not just using sugar to make it sweet.}