Midnight Sun Herbal Health
A Complimentary and Alternative Health Practice
ORGANIC – how to understand the labeling
DECIPHERING THE “ORGANIC” LABEL
“100% ORGANIC “Products must show an ingredients list, the name, address of the handler (bottler, importer, manufacturer, packer and processor) of the finished product, and the name and seal of the organic certifier. These products should contain NO chemicals, additives, synthetics, pesticides or genetically engineered substances.
“USAD ORGANIC” Products must contain at least 95% organic ingredients. The five % non-organic ingredients could include additives or synthetics if they are on the approved list. The label must contain a list that identifies the organic as well the he non-organic ingredients in the product and the names of the organic certifier.
“MADE WITH ORGANIC” Products must contain at least 70% organic ingredients. The label must contain a list that identifies the organic, as well as the non-organic ingredients in the product, along with the name of the organic certifier. If a product contains less than 70% organic ingredients, it cannot use the word “organic” on the packaging or display panel. The only place an organic claim can be made is on the ingredient label.
“THE MEANING OF CALIFORNIA ORGANIC” - California Food Ac of 1979. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Before a product can be labeled "organic," a USDA accredited certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified and inspected also.
Producers certified by CCOF have made the choice to grow and sell organic foods...CCOF supports this choice and you by providing information, resources and advocacy for organic food and agriculture. Click here
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In an article in the Washington Post 7/3 09 - Purity of Federal “Organic” label questioned It is clear that the rules and regulations that have been set down for this important question of our food production and manufacture are subject to the interpretation of individuals within the U.S. Department of Agriculture as it gets into the cross hairs of demands from “purists”, organics producers and lobbying and lawyers for large food manufacturers who want into his growing industry. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt), who sponsored the federal organics legislation said, “If we don’t protect the brand, the organic label, the program is finished. It could disappear overnight.” Joe Smillie, a VP of the certifying firm Quality Assurance International has stated that: “ People are really hung up on regulations. I say let’s find a way to bend that one, it is not important…… What are we selling? Are we selling health food? No. ….We live in a polluted world. It isn’t pure. We are doing the best we can.
So the issue becomes a battle between the small farmer and large farmers; the small organics producers and the large companies with large resources who want in on this growing market leaving the consumer in the middle. While the industry wants and needs to grow, because that growth in the end benefits everyone, this growth should not allow manufacturers to “plow” down the small farmers with unfair competition because of financial resources. It also must not mean that the large companies can be allowed to hide undesirable ingredients behind undefined labeling practices nor have the ability to, at a whim have established rules bent or overturned nothing by having unfair access to or ability to pressure the organizations or Federal Agencies that set the rules and leave the consumer worried that the Federal labeling laws mean nothing. In the end, as it always has, it falls on the consumer to be informed and to READ THE LABEL, if the composition of ingredients matter to them.
On the same topic: NY Times article March 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/dining/04cert.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2
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