Last month it was revealed that there are all sorts of additives in the most common and basic foods we likely consume every day, or at the very least, every week. It appears that frozen yogurt chain Pinkberry also took some creative liberty with the term "all-natural" and caught flak - not to mention a lawsuit - when it was discovered the products weren't quite as healthy and natural as they claimed to be.

When Pinkberry opened their first store back in 2005, they didn't come right out and say exactly what was in their yogurt, providing only ambiguous details such as non-fat and all-natural. Customers were instantly curious as to how they made the product taste so good while maintaining its healthful qualities. Eventually the company was sued for deceptive marketing and ended up adding the ingredients list to their website. It was then discovered that there was a lot more to Pinkberry products than originally thought. More additives that is.

First there was skim milk and non-fat yogurt. That seems pretty standard given they sell a fat-free dairy product. Next came sucrose, fructose and dextrose, all fancy names for various types of sugar, fructose being an extract of corn syrup. Finally came the five additives listed considered by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to be emulsifiers, four acidifiers and the two fillers. Names like propylene glycol esters, diglycerides and maltodextrin were found on the list. Some of these are actually natural, but it was clear others were not. As we learned last month, the definition of artificial colors and flavors found in Pinkberry yogurt are pretty much left wide open.

In an e-mail message, Pinkberry’s chief executive, Ron Graves, said: “In the company’s early days some of its point-of-sale material contained the words ‘all natural’ — which was an honest mistake by the founders. The yogurt used was ‘all natural,’ which was the source of confusion.”

You would think that before a company made such a bold claim that their product was "all-natural" they could at least be bothered to clarify and avoid the "source of confusion." Maybe ignorance is the 'chilly bliss" the company also advertises.

» The New York Times