[justin66]

I did not offer a classification, which sounds like a very boring thing to do. Indeed, I meant to cast doubt on hard and fast classifications with the olive oil versus canola oil example!

I just don't think any classification could categorize partially hydrogenated oils as "natural" without rendering the term entirely meaningless. Because of what we do to make them, because of their effect on the body, or because of how they differ chemically from more "natural" stuff: take your pick. The point being, eating "naturally" might be a slippery concept but a lot of what we're talking about here can be safely excluded by anyone shooting for that "natural" goal.

Food threads on HN are dumb enough that I'm going to leave it at that. The parent comment has already been downvoted multiple times for some reason...

[cholantesh]

Natural simply means 'existing in nature', which humans do. Human activity is, by extension, also natural. Ergo, partial hydrogenation is natural.

But implying that something that is natural (ie, not borne of human activity, per your usage) is by definition good is fallacy. Remember that Socrates (among other enemies of the Athenian state) died after drinking an infusion of hemlock.

[justin66]

> Natural simply means 'existing in nature'

It took me 15 seconds to find a dictionary entry with seven different definitions for the word. But thank you for your valuable contribution.

> But implying that something that is natural (ie, not borne of human activity, per your usage) is by definition good is fallacy.

But as a heuristic it's probably not terrible. The paleo diet people have some strange ideas but the diet itself is really not bad. Veganism as a heart healthy diet is playing out well for a lot of people. And so on.