Organic Labeling Comes into Question
The Washington Post published an in depth article about how the Purity of the Organic Label. This article raises many concerns about how the federal program is not sticking to the meaning of ‘Organic’ when allowing companies to use the label. Because of major corporate pressure, the government is allowing more and more products to use the organic label on their products, when it fact they should in no way be allowed to.
The government is only hurting the consumer and helping businesses by allowing the organic label to be abused. When we buy products with the organic label, we expect that all the ingredients were naturally grown without the use of chemicals or pesticides. In turn, the prices on these products are usually higher. The realization is that USDA organic products can still contain a small percentage of non-organic materials from a list that is continually growing.
So what does all this mean to us as consumers of these products? With any food product you buy, you should scrutinize the label before making the purchase. Just because the label has a bright ‘Organic’ or ‘Natural’ label, as we can see, means very little. A rule of thumb that I like to use is that if an ingredient on the product looks suspect or I see the keywords natural or artificial flavors, then probably should avoid it. It is also important that we buy less processed foods. The more processing done on a product, the more artificial ingredients it will usually contain.
Let’s hope that the USDA begins to take the ‘Organic’ label a little more seriously and stop letting corporate pressure determine the requirements for it. Until that happens (if it ever does) be careful in what you buy regardless of catchy words the label uses.
Comments
I do wish the government would become more stringent on the labeling of organic products. I find it not only frustrating and confusing, but also misleading. I guess they could make the company say 100% organic or something like that where there are no implications of something being 100% if it isn’t and no way to get around the labeling; if it isn’t 100% percent organic then it couldn’t be labeled as such.