Defining "natural product" between public health and business, 17th to 21st centuries.
The historical definition of a natural product stands at the crossroads of business, health, and the symbolic order of things. Until the end of the 19th century, "natural product" was a synonym of perishable. The emergency of organic chemistry made perishability be replaced with "toxicity". Nowadays, genetics is provoking a radical change in the notion and practises of "natural product". However, these concerns are never entirely opposed to "naturality" as a synonym for sacred and symbolic order. Traceability is largely based upon kosher practices and the association between organic and good for health is hardly based upon sound scientific arguments.
Stanziani
Alessandro
A
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institutions et dynamiques historiques de l'économie (IDHE) and Ecole Normale, Supérieure (ENS) de Cachan, 17 rue de la Sorbonne, FR-75005 Paris, France. Alessandro.stanziani@idhe.ens-cachan.fr
D003132:Commerce / Q000266:history; D004032:Diet / Q000266:history* / Q000639:trends; D005519:Food Preservation / Q000266:history*; D058870:Food, Organic / Q000266:history*; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D011634:Public Health / Q000266:history*; D012067:Religion / Q000266:history; D009626:Terminology as Topic