Center for Food Safety to FDA: Dont Answer "Natural" Question in Gruma Lawsuit

WASHINGTONThe Center for Food Safety on Monday urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to decline a request by a federal court to define the term "natural" in a lawsuit against the tortilla giant Gruma Corp.

In a letter, the Center for Food Safety recommended FDA define natural through a formal process in which the agency proposes a rule and the public has the opportunity to comment. 

In recent years, a number of lawsuits have been filed against food manufacturers including Gruma over the term natural.

In July, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers referred to FDA "the question of whether and under what circumstances food products containing ingredients produced using bioengineered seed may or may not be labeled 'Natural' or 'All Natural' or '100% Natural'".

Should FDA opt to address the matter in the lawsuit, Andrew Kimbrell and Bill Freese of the non-profit Center for Food Safety asked the agency to bar "the labeling of any food as 'natural'" if the food originates partly or wholly through genetic engineering or contains ingredients that have been produced through genetic modification.

Gruma is defending a proposed class action over the labeling of its tortilla products. Lawyers for the proposed class contend labels on its food products are false and misleading because they contain GMOs (genetically modified organisms), namely corn that is grown from genetically modified seeds.

FDA doesn't comment on pending litigation.