So You Think It's Organic

While concern of global warming and the health of our environment is a growing cause, people are also taking their own health into consideration and are coughing up the cash for organic food products. Because of this, more food manufacturers are wanting to market their products as organic, but are finding they cannot use the sufficient ingredients needed while staying within the standards of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Though I would say, “tough,” if your ingredients aren’t organic, you should not sport the label, the USDA may be bending. A recent USDA proposal is currently in the works to allow for 38 non-organic ingredients to be used in products that display the organic label.

According to USDA regulations, a product can be labeled organic as long as it contains just five percent or less of approved non-organic ingredients. As of May 2007, only five ingredients were listed as approved non-organic ingredients that could be used: cornstarch, water-extracted gum, kelp, unbleached lecithin and pectin. In June of this year, the USDA proposed 38 more, including 19 food colorings, two starches, sausage casings, hops (the number two ingredient in beer), fish oil and a variety of spices.

As a consumer wanting to stay as health conscious as possible, I am already disappointed to learn that products I believe to be organic are not completely organic. On top of that, the USDA is considering adding ingredients such as sausage casings to my organic food!

Ronnie Cummins, executive director of Organic Consumers Association, said it best in Conscious Choice magazine, a Seattle publication, when he said that limiting the list of approved non-organic ingredients is a positive thing that will prevent companies from using the over 600 non-organic ingredients requested by food manufacturers. I also agree with his comment that fish oil, hops, and sausage casings should not be included in food that is labeled organic, because that is simply not what we are getting.