Your Favorite 'Natural' Brands May Not Be What They Seem
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/11/Your-Favorite-Natu
ral-Brands-May-Not-Be-What-They-Seem.aspx

Burt’s Bees lip balm was originally sold at independently owned health
food stores. But more recently, Burt's Bees products have appeared
everywhere -- in grocery stores, drug stores, and big-box stores like
Target and Wal-Mart. That’s because Burt's Bees is now owned by
Clorox, a massive corporation that has historically cared very little
about the environment.

Many of the products you may trust and respect for their independence
and social responsibility are now owned by big corporations that are
going out of their way to hide their link to the small, socially
responsible brands.

Tom's of Maine is owned by Colgate-Palmolive, a massive company with a
revenue of approximately $11.4 billion. Danone, the French
conglomerate which also owns Brown Cow, has acquired a majority
holding in Stoneyfield -- the same Danone that had to recall large
quantities of its yogurt in 2007 after it was found to contain unsafe
levels of dioxins. Horizon Organic milk was bought out by the largest
dairy company in the U.S., Dean Foods, in 2005.

Odwalla is now owned by Coca-Cola. Almost as soon as Coca-Cola bought
the company, it stopped selling the fresh-squeezed OJ that had made
Odwalla famous and popular -- fresh squeezed can't last the days and
weeks the juices are now in transit or on the shelf. Pepsi bought
Naked Juice in 2006, in order to compete with Odwalla. Smuckers
grabbed several juice mainstays from the health food store shelves:
After The Fall, R.W. Knudsen and Santa Cruz Organic.

Kashi cereals was bought in July 2000 by Kellogg's, the 12th-largest
company in North American food sales (but if you look at a box of
Kashi's "Go Lean Crunch", for example, you will find not one mention
of the fact that Kellogg's owns them.) Kraft Foods bought the natural
cereal maker Back to Nature. Kraft is a subsidiary of Altria, which
also owns Philip Morris, one of the world's largest producers of
cigarettes.

General Mills owns Cascadian Farm. Barbara's Bakery is owned by
Weetabix, the leading British cereal company. Health Valley and
Arrowhead Mills are owned by Hain Celestial Group, a natural food
company traded on the NASDAQ, with H.J. Heinz owning 16 percent of the
company.

Green and Black's organic chocolate was taken over in 2005 by
Schweppes, the 10th-largest company in North American packaged-food
sales. Dagoba Chocolate is actually owned by Hershey Foods.

Marketing strategies have been fooling you, convincing you to trust
that the niche brands continue to be small, environmentally conscious
businesses with ecologically sound practices. In fact, they are
frequently cogs in the giant corporate wheel. It is time to question
how much the ownership and neglectful marketing of these "pseudo"
responsible brands warrant crossing them off your shopping list. And
it is time to find products more in tune with your values -- at least
until they, too, get bought out by a large conglomerate.

Sources:

 AlterNet March 18, 2009

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 Dr. Mercola's Comments:

For those of you still under the assumption that your Horizon organic
milk, your Kashi crackers or your Green and Black’s chocolate was
being churned out by a small farm or mom-and-pop shop nestled in a
pristine valley, brace yourself for disappointment.

The reality is that many of your favorite organic products are owned
and operated by the same corporations that make the worst kinds of
highly processed junk foods on the market -- soda, potato chips,
sugary cereals, candy, etc.

Unfortunately, when multinational corporations create or purchase
these natural health companies, they are looking to maximize their
profits by turning out the largest amount of product for the least
expense. And,  that frequently means sacrificing some ethics and
skimping on quality.

And what you, the consumer, are left with is the misguided impression
that you’re spending your hard-earned money on a product that adheres
to a certain set of values, which have likely long since perished in
the wake of corporate strategies.

The Power of an Idea

On the positive side, this trend is a clear sign that when you speak
with your pocketbook and start demanding healthier food choices,
America’s largest corporations have no practical economic choice but
to respond.

With the involvement of large corporations, organic food has turned
into a $16-billion business, with sales growing by as much as 20
percent per year. What this means for much of America is access to
more organic foods at lower prices – which is a great thing.

Companies, eager to gain market share in the natural foods movement
have begun acquiring and mass-producing “organic” foods which has
resulted in a slow but noticeable deterioration of the meaning and
health benefits upon which the organic label was founded.

So whereas many people are now getting the core message that organic
is far healthier for you, they don’t stop long enough to make a
distinction between raw organic food and processed food that contains
organic ingredients. It’s important to realize that organic versions
of junk food are STILL just as detrimental to your health as their
original counterparts.

Additionally, a significant element of the organic ideal is
environmental sustainability and protection, but at least one study
has found that the transportation of organic produce causes an
environmental impact large enough to cancel out any of its
environmental benefits.

Who Owns Your Favorite Organic Brand?

Phil Howard, an assistant professor of Community, Agriculture, and
Recreation and Resource studies at Michigan State University, put
together this revealing chart below, which shows the significant
acquisitions and introductions of organic brands by major food
corporations, as of January 2008.

The unfortunate result of all this big business wheeling and dealing
in organics, and acquiring small but popular organic brands is that
you now have to be very wary when you see the term “organic,” as it
doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s any better for either you or the
environment.

There’s Something Even Better Than Organic

Personally, I’m not surprised at this development; it was bound to
happen. Food companies, as any other primarily profit-driven company,
would not let a swelling market niche go untapped.

That doesn’t mean you have to buy into the hype, however. You still
have the power to demand the real deal, and the fact of the matter is;
true organic IS better. Both for you and for the environment.

It’s mainly a matter of knowing where to find locally harvested
organic foods and buying from sources you want to see thrive. You also
want to read the packaged food labels and not simply take the organic
label at face value.  It’s sad to say but the organic label has become
virtually meaningless as a sign of quality.

Depending on where you live, finding a local farmer or food coop may
seem unrealistic, but just as demand drove the rise of organic, it is
driving the demand for locally grown foods. You can peruse this list
of sustainable agriculture options to find like-minded people in your
area who will know how you can connect with local food producers.

Also be sure to take advantage of farmer’s markets and roadside stands
now as spring and summer approaches.