Organic Living and Lifestyle Blog

Buying Organic: Will New Labelling Make It Easier?

October 14th, 2007

One of the biggest controversies in the Organic industry is “How do I know it’s really organic?” And it’s a fair question given that by consuming organic foods we often have substantially higher monthly grocery costs. In 1998 average costs of organic foods were 57% higher than conventional foods.

New US labelling government regulations say that it will be a lot easier for consumers to have confidence that they are buying organic but industry groups say it’s not enough.

Organic food sales have shot up from $180 million in 1980 to over $6.5 billion last year. Grocery stores sales now made up 56% of organic food sales in the past year. Although organic food sales only make up 2% of national food sales, the organic market has definitely begun soaring, especially on Wall Street. Experts expect the figure to more than double by the year 2010.

The USDA has finally released an official definition of what qualifies as organic food in response to the great increase in sales. It is also developing labeling standards which should be in effect by this summer. Up until the past couple of months, a definition of what actually qualifies as organic foods did not even exist. Throughout the past decade farmers and conventional farming organizations have been debating the need for federal organic labeling.

Fear that the organic labels would create an unfair bias against conventional products kept conventional farmers from encouraging labeling. In December 2006, the Grocery Manufactures of America actually complained about the new organic standards, [warning - laughter alert] claiming that the new labels will mislead consumers into believing that organic products are safer and more nutritious.

Ummm, yeah… just in case you are completely new to organic, let’s list why organic products could possibly be better for you:

Organic foods are safer, since they contain fewer pesticides,
more nutritious because they contain more trace minerals and nutrients, and
better for the environment because organic growing practices are kinder to the soil, sky, and water.

And if that wasn’t enough, more and more doctors believe that organic foods are safe and are well worth the additional cost. Those doctors who support organic eating believe that the cumulative effects of toxins in our food, water, and air can be extremely harmful to our health. They also believe that anything we can do to reduce the toxins is well worth it.

The agricultural secretary must have a great sense of humour denying the accusation of bias stating that although the organic seal will give more validity to organic products, the seal will not imply that organic foods are safer or more nutritious.

The new USDA standards mean you will get better organic food for your buck due to an official and national standard for what foods can be called organic. At last, you will now know with certainty that the organic foods you purchase contain no synthetic pesticides and no added chemicals. Organic farmers will also use no genetic engineering, no irradiation and no sewage fertilization. Additionally, live-stock raised under these standards will be given 100% organic feed and will not be treated with antibiotics. Before the standardization, consumers often had to trust misleading labeling claims on organic products.

Consumer and environmental groups criticized the new regulations, saying they don’t go far enough, particularly in terms of labeling GM foods.

The FDA says it will not allow labels like “GM-free,” “GMO-Free” or “biotech-free.” The agency says guaranteeing a product to be free of GM material is virtually impossible. Instead the labels will have to say the food was not produced through bioengineering. The FDA said it may take legal action against companies that violate these guidelines.

Keep in mind, these regulations are for food only. Toiletries and cleaning products aren’t regulated so take a quick look at the ingredients on that shampoo and body wash claiming it’s Organic and you’ll soon see for yourself.

To find out more what Organic labels really mean, go to http://www.greenerchoices.org/eco-labels/reportProductArea.cfm?productArea=Processed%20Food&mode=view

Please leave your feedback, what do you think of the new labelling, will it make it easier for you?

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