Purity of Federal 'Organic' Label Is Questioned

[damdaman]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/02/AR2009070203365.html?nav=rss_email/components

 

(click link for full story)

 

I remember when the USDA got in on the organic thing and people in the health food community were concerned that they'd drive the 3rd party "certified organic" companies out of business and lower the standards while muddying the whole thing in their bureaucracy. I very rarely see 3rd party certified organic labels anymore, and sure enough, stories like this are starting to pop up...

 

...The government's turnaround, from prohibition to permission, came after a USDA program manager was lobbied by the formula makers and overruled her staff. That decision and others by a handful of USDA employees, along with an advisory board's approval of a growing list of non-organic ingredients, have helped numerous companies win a coveted green-and-white "USDA Organic" seal on an array of products.

 

Grated organic cheese, for example, contains wood starch to prevent clumping. Organic beer can be made from non-organic hops. Organic mock duck contains a synthetic ingredient that gives it an authentic, stringy texture.

 

Relaxation of the federal standards, and an explosion of consumer demand, have helped push the organics market into a $23 billion-a-year business, the fastest growing segment of the food industry. Half of the country's adults say they buy organic food often or sometimes, according to a survey last year by the Harvard School of Public Health.

 

But the USDA program's shortcomings mean that consumers, who at times must pay twice as much for organic products, are not always getting what they expect: foods without pesticides and other chemicals, produced in a way that is gentle to the environment...

[RAINRA]

This makes me upset because I am one to only buy organic! RRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

 

Of course you gotta try to trust companies but many are out for the quick and easy buck... The Organic Consumers Organization I think had an issue with the USDA before and now they are gonna have to go at it again.

[RAINRA]

Breaking the Organic Monopoly and the “Natural” Foods Myth

 

Whole Food Market and United Natural Foods, Inc.: Undermining Our Organic Future

 

After four decades of hard work, the organic community has built up a $25 billion “certified organic” food and farming sector. This consumer-driven movement, under steady attack by the biotech and Big Food lobby, with little or no help from government, has managed to create a healthy and sustainable alternative to America’s disastrous, chemical and energy-intensive system of industrial agriculture.

 

 

However, the annual $50 billion natural food and products industry is threatening to undermine the organic movement by flooding the marketplace with conventional products greenwashed with “natural” labeling. "Natural," in the overwhelming majority of cases, translates to "conventional-with-a-green-veneer." Natural products are routinely produced using pesticides, chemical fertilizer, hormones, genetic engineering, and sewage sludge. "Natural","all-natural," and "sustainable," products in most cases are neither backed up by rules and regulations, nor a Third Party certifier.