While shopping in the supermarket, many of the meat products claim to be natural products. What consumers don’t know is that many of those same “natural” meats are pumped with ingredients to make the meat more tender. This leads to the question: Is this product really natural?

The United States Department of Agriculture is reviewing its policy on products claiming to be natural after politicians and health advocates found that about one-third of chicken sold in the U.S. was injected with additives that could represent up to 15 percent of the meat’s weight, doubling or tripling its sodium content.

“Natural is an ill-defined term,” said Lester Wilson, ISU professor of food science. “It can mean things for different people.”

The word natural does not have a true, set definition, according to the USDA, which allows the consumer to be aware of what is in a product. For some consumers, natural means nothing is added to the product, while some could argue that natural means only natural ingredients are added to the product.

Under current USDA guidelines, chicken may be labeled natural as long as it does not contain artificial flavors or preservatives.

“For the consumer there is the question of are they getting what they are paying for when it comes to a product,” Wilson said.

Consumers may be buying meat they believe to be all natural, unaware of the added content, or they may be unaware that they are paying more for the additives that could represent up to 15 percent of the weight. The USDA believes that with a clearer definition it can help educate consumers about what exactly they are buying.

While the term natural is not only confusing to the consumer, the labeling raises health concerns. Consumers unaware of the addition of salt and water to a meat can miss the added sodium content, a problem for people who need to limit their salt intake due to high blood pressure or other health problems.

This proposed ruling would only affect the meat and poultry industries, which are governed by USDA. Still, Wilson believes that in the future this ruling might affect other types of natural foods that fall under the Food and Drug Administration.

If this new set of rules falls into place, consumers can expect some type of label stating that the product has been pumped. The new rules will be reviewed later this fall.