What's in a Label?

With the rapidly growing market for organic food, it is becoming more and more difficult to regulate the items that come from various producers. In addition, now that organic foods are becoming more commonplace, large, conventional agribusiness conglomerates are bringing their business practices into the arena which can mean more confusion for consumers. For instance, in 2003, a Georgia chicken producer convinced a congressional representative to pass a federal amendment stating that, "if the price of organic feed was more than twice that of conventional feed, then livestock producers could feed their animals non-organic food but label it organic." Thankfully, this amendment was repealed later in 2003.

Nevertheless, because of increased demand for organic food and relaxed regulatory standards, it is important for consumers to understand what various labels mean! They can be very misleading! For more info on food labels, visit: http://www.eco-labels.org

"100% Organic": by law, no synthetic ingredients can be used. Production processes must meet federal standards and have been verified by an independently accredited inspector.

"Organic": a minimum of 95% of ingredients are organic. The other 5% can be conventional or synthetic. EXCEPTION: seafood. The USDA has NO STANDARDS for calling seafood organic.

"Made with Organic Ingredients": a minimum of 70% of the ingredients are organic. The other 30% can be synthetic or conventional.  However, these 30% must come from the USDA's approved list.

"Free-range," or "free-roaming": This label SUGGESTS that the animal or animal products spent a good portion of its life outdoors. However, standards are weak. For instance, for poultry, applying this label means only that the animals had ACCESS to the outdoors daily for an UNDETERMINED amount of time. Therefore, if a chicken coop door was open for a few minutes daily, it could be labeled "free range." This is a MEANINGLESS label.

"Natural," or "All-natural": DOES NOT mean organic. Only applies to meat or poultry in which case it means that the product does not contain artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. This claim is NOT verified. Only the producer determines whether or not to use it.