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• Sunday, July 5, 2009 08:23 PM

  Purity of Federal 'Organic' Label Is Questioned

  Everyone reading the Salon story should also read this story:

  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/02/AR2009070203365.html

  from the Washington Post:

  "In response to complaints, the USDA inspector general's office has widened an investigation of whether products carrying the (organic) label meet national standards. The probe is also looking into the department's oversight of private certifiers who are hired by farmers and food producers and inspect products to determine whether they can use the label.

  corporate firepower has added to pressure on the government to expand the definition of what is organic, in part because processed foods offered by big industry often require ingredients, additives or processing agents that either do not exist in organic form or are not available in large enough quantities for mass production.

  Under the original organics law, 5 percent of a USDA-certified organic product can consist of non-organic substances, provided they are approved by the National Organic Standards Board. That list has grown from 77 to 245 substances since it was created in 2002. Companies must appeal to the board every five years to keep a substance on the list, explaining why an organic alternative has not been found. The goal was to shrink the list over time, but only one item has been removed so far.

  The original law's mandate for annual pesticide testing was also never implemented -- the agency left that optional."

  —vaporland Read vaporland's other letters
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