Kellogg Has To Drop All-Natural Labeling On Kashi Products

If you've been eating Kashi products in an effort to stay all-natural and healthy, we've got some bad news for you. Kellogg has recently lost a class-action lawsuit and agreed to drop the buzzwords "all-natural" and "nothing artificial" from their line of Kashi cereal and granola products, because they've been known to contain unnatural ingredients like hexane, which is  a component of gasoline.

Despite the allegations, Kellogg has decided to stand by their labeling process.

"We stand behind our advertising and labeling practices," Kris Charles, a Kellogg spokesperson said in a statement. "We will comply with the terms of the settlement agreement by the end of the year and will continue to ensure our foods meet our high quality and nutrition standards while delivering the great taste people expect."

Other ingredients supposedly found in Kashi cereals include pyridoxine hydrochloride (one of the chemical compounds that can be called vitamin B-6), and calcium pantothenate (also known as vitamin B-5). Sounds great right? Except to cut corners, companies will create cheaper, synthetic versions of these nutrients, according to The New York Times. And that's exactly what Kashi did.

The $5 million settlement also calls to mind the issue that nutritionists argue is really hurting consumers: there is no definition for the word "natural" when it appears on food products, saying: "from a food science perspective, it is difficult to define a food product that is "natural' because the food has probably been processed and is no longer the product of the earth... the agency has not objected to the use of the term if the food does not contain added color, artificial flavors, or synthetic substances."

Joanna Fantozzi is an Associate Editor with The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @JoannaFantozzi