Scientific sounding terms make products sound safer and more trustworthy. But is this advertising double talk or is there real meaning you can count on with these terms?

Have you read through the website content on food products,  women’s cosmetics,  dietary supplements or a weight loss website? Many times the advertising is filled with scientific language designed to make you trust what they are saying. But what is “clinically proven” or “all natural”?

1. All natural: can include animal products raised with the use of artificial hormones can include genetically modified plants or animals. Natural does not mean organic. “Natural” has no meaning in law or regulation although it is taken to mean no man made chemicals have been added.
2. Organic: This term has precise definitions that items are produced and certified to meet defined standards. If the label just says “organic,” a processed food product can have up to 5 percent non-organic ingredients by weight. A product called “100 percent organic” must contain all organic ingredients. Wild or farmed fish though can be labeled organic even though there is no guarantee that it is free from mercury or other industrial chemicals like PCB’s.
3. Clinically proven: This usually means that there was more than one controlled study performed. To be sure of the significance, you need to look at the details of the controlled test that was done. Examine if this was run in a university hospital with thousands of subjects over multiple years or was it a 2 week trial run with a half dozen subjects. A single trial is supposed to use the term “clinically shown.”
4. Dermo clinical trials: This term seems to be an invention of the advertising industry. Dermo would apply to skin care products. Clinical trials are controlled tests on human subjects.
5. Free Range: Used in describing eggs from free roaming chickens. Actually this only means the chickens were given access to the outside for as little as five minutes each day (not that they even went outside).
6. In vitro testing: This means testing that was done in “glass” such as in a test tube or a Petri dish. This means testing was performed on cells or tissues outside the body and in the lab. It does not mean it was proven to work in actual use.

The best way is to carefully question advertising language to truly understand what is being said. Often you can’t accept things at face value without understanding the true meaning of the terms being used.

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