Quote:
Originally Posted by gmr324
Is the organic food industry regulated or can anyone
just slap that label on their package? I guess the best
option which we do is to just purchase as much as
possible from local farms you can talk to
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Yes it is regulated but unfortunately many consumers are uneducated as to what requirements go with what term, and there are lots of terms. Gets confusing as some terms are regulated, while other terms are not. This goes beyond organic, etc. applies to all sorts of labels in general (diet, light, organic, free, reduced, so forth).
It boils down to 4 categories - 100% organic, organic, made from organic ingredients, and contains less than 70% organic ingredients.
100% is obvious for most part.
Organic must contain 95% organic ingredients, with 5% consisting of only approved products that are unavailable in organic form.
Made with organic ingredients - contain at least 70% organic ingredients and they can list 3 of them on the label - though they cannot display the USDA organic seal on the package.
Less than 70& - can not use the term organic anywhere on the main display panel, but they can list the specific components in the ingredients section of the information panel.
Fun to think that's just for the organic issue, toss in free range or many others and all sorts of new rules again for a new term.