Safe, Naturally?

It always annoys me when ads advocate the “naturalness” of a product. They are often worded in such a way that “natural” is made to seem good or safe whilst “synthetic” is bad, dangerous or inferior; this, of course, is utter nonsense.

I can think of many substances that are entirely natural but are also highly toxic, ricin for example, which comes from castor beans or any of the bacteriological diseases that afflict us.

Unfortunately, this trend seems to be allied strongly to the woo-woo culture that embraces sensationalism, quackery and wishful thinking, yet rejects the very science that enables woo-woos to be woo-woos in the first place!