USDA Organic Label Under Attack.

UPDATE: National Organic Standards

After a hard fought battle to include all irradiated and genetically engineered food, in the list of foods that can not bear the USDA Organic label, the USDA has shown signs of backtracking. In the original conclusions, the USDA announced that, in foods qualifying for the USDA Organic label, the following practices & ingredients are forbidden:

CHEMICAL FERTILIZATION OF CROPS

ANIMAL INGREDIENTS IN LIVESTOCK FEED

USE OF ANTIBIOTICS

USE OF HORMONES

IRRADIATION OF FOODS

GENETIC ENGINEERING

Also, the most harmful chemical pesticides are not allowed. However, Congress and the USDA continue to cut deals and make exceptions that endanger the validity of the standards. For example, industrial egg producers, housing thousands of hens, have been allowed to meet the "free range" requirements by installing small porches on building sides. The seafood industry has, since, been allowed to use the organic label on any fish that is captured wild, even if it is a species known to harbor unsafe levels of mercury. The USDA now allows cosmetic manufacturers to use the organic label for such items as water that has been steeped in organically grown herbs, regardless of the quality of the remaining ingredients. For details, see Consumer Reports®, August 2003, Page 61.

So, proceed to this site with the understanding that you will be reading about a good notion that has become endangered by commercial special interests and the politicians and bureaucrats who they own. Maybe you can send them an email, reminding them who they work for.

UPDATE: October 2005
We will maintain this link to the USDA, for your convenience, but recent changes in the USDA's stance are clearly in favor of special interests; not in yours. For ongoing updates of their efforts to destroy organic standards, we recommend The Organic Consumers Association

CONTINUE TO USDA ORGANIC PAGES

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