• Eating organic foods are healthier

  

  Quality Certification Service seal.

• Organic foods are better for the environment

  

• Organic food is better for animals

What actually is organic?

In 1990, the Organic Foods Production Act established the National Organic Program (NOP) and the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). The NOSB creates uniform standards for organic production and ensures consumer trust in all products labeled organic in the marketplace. The NOSB defines organic agriculture as “an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity”. The NOP ensures food labeled organic is produced in a similar manner, regardless of the location of origin. Additionally in the U.S., all organic farms must manage their operations for three years (prior to harvest) before agricultural products can bear the organic label.

• Agricultural systems -- including, but not limited to farming systems, processing systems, and distribution systems -- are certified organic when a certifying agency determines that these production systems comply fully with NOP standards.

• All growers, handlers and processors who are certified organic must be compliant with these standards or risk losing their organic certification.

• Livestock in certified-organic systems are not allowed to receive preventative antibiotics, parasiticides, or other synthetic drugs. (Synthetic is defined as those substances manufactured by a chemical, rather than biological process). If livestock are sick, they must be treated with all appropriate medications until restored to full health. Farmers with certified-organic systems are not allowed to withhold prohibited medications simply to maintain an animal's organic status. However, livestock products from animals treated with antibiotics or other prohibited drugs are not allowed to be sold with the organic label.

• Livestock in organic systems are not allowed to receive growth-promoting hormones.

• The NOP standards prohibit use of formulated pesticides that contain ingredients classified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as “high risk” to humans, livestock, fish, and other organisms. Crop-pesticide inputs in organic systems are largely limited to pesticides composed of plant or microbial extracts, minerals, or live beneficial organisms.

• Certified-organic producers must make every attempt to manage pests with cultural, biological and ecological methods before applying the NOP-approved formulated pesticide.

• In order for foods to be labeled organic, residues of NOP-prohibited pesticides that result from accidental (and unavoidable) contamination are limited to 5% of the established EPA Tolerance. Pesticides allowed by the NOP for use in organic production have been demonstrated to pose minimal health risk to humans.

• To minimize the risk to food safety from human enteropathogens (like E. coli E157:H7), the application of raw manure in organic-certified agricultural systems is strictly regulated to no less than 120 days in advance of the harvest of a crop that touches the soil (such as watermelon). For a crop that does not touch the soil (such as sweet corn), application of raw manure is restricted to no less than 90 days prior to harvest.

• Compost manufacture is strictly regulated for organic producers. Raw materials used in the compost must be documented. Additionally, because high temperatures and oxygen are needed to kill human pathogens, organic producers must meet or exceed NOP requirements for temperature and turning, a practice that further minimizes risk to food safety.

• Genetic modification of organisms in any way not possible under natural conditions is prohibited for organic producers. This NOP rule excludes organic producers from using many well known genetically modified crops, such as herbicide-resistant corn and soybeans, as well as insect-resistant cotton. Genetically modified crops are regulated by the USDA, the EPA and the FDA.

• Processed organic products are free from artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives with very few exceptions.

• Certification agencies are audited by the USDA annually. Agencies that do not follow the NOP standards risk losing their accreditation.

• The NOP standards ensure that all products labeled as organic meet or exceed the standards established in the U.S. regardless of country of origin.

Who Needs to be Certified?

• Any producer with gross sales exceeding $5,000 per year and advertising products as organic must be certified with an accredited certification agency.

• Organic producers with gross sales totaling less than $5,000 per year may become certified if they wish. If these small producers do not choose to be certified, however, they may verbally communicate to customers that they are using organic methods of production.

• Producers who are not certified organic are not allowed to display the "USDA Organic" label on their products or otherwise advertise their products as "certified organic." The NOP rule provides severe penalties for misrepresenting products as organic.

Understanding the Organic Label

Labeling of organic products in the marketplace is regulated by the NOP. The use of the organic seal is not a requirement, but producers who identify their products as organic are obligated to identify their certifying agency with a written statement on processed products. Several types of documentation may be used to designate organic products, depending on the amount of organic agricultural ingredients and NOP-approved non-agricultural ingredients a processed product contains:

• For single-ingredient agricultural products, such as raw fruits and vegetables, understanding the product claim is simple; if it is certified and labeled as organic, it is 100% organic.

• For multiple ingredient products, the use of the word, “organic,” as well as use of the USDA seal (Figure) and the seal of the certifying agency (Figure), depends primarily on the percentage of organic ingredients by weight or fluid volume in the product (Table).

Adapted from UF/IFAS publication HS1146. For more information, view the full publication at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/HS397.