I think natural foods are referring to ingredients that aren’t processed or whatever of the same kind. For example, Most professional chefs use only the best ingredients. They don’t use beef cubes or chicken cubes just to ad meat flavor to their dishes instead, they use manually prepared meat stocks, etc. Other examples are ready-to-make gravies, packed seasonings, canned tomatoes, tomato sauces, canned fruits, canned stocks, mac and cheese sold in boxes, etc.

My mother was a nutrition freak. For years everything was grown in our garden and we made our own cookies etc., no mixes, no pre-packaged cereal, hand made granola because it’s so difficult to find affordable natural foods. Marketing can alter anything to sound natural. Read the labels over and over. No additivies and if you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it. That said, even yeast enzyme is an additive to food to enhance flavor and can cause problems and yet it’s “natural” so as pure a product as possible. Whole and organic foods might be the better way to ensure “natural” products.

The FDA defines the allowable use of this term in packaging.
Check out their site the info should be there. This always cracked me up. Yes indeed uranium is natural too….

Depending on context.
Natural = no preservatives or additives.
Natural = no pesticides, herbicides, or hormone supplements used in the growing process of all ingredients.

no additives