In my previous article, Organic, What Does It Really Mean, I discussed the definition of organic foods and the requirements for certifying a food as organic. You see many labels on food items, but, in the case of an organic label on a product, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) strictly regulates the use of the term organic relating to the sale of food products.
The USDA has developed the regulations for labeling an organic product based on the percent of organic ingredients in the product. Here are the definitions of the organic label.
Organic Usually single ingredient foods, such as fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and milk produced conforming to the standards. If the product has multiple ingredients, 95% to 100% of the ingredients must be organic. The 100% organic label means that 100% of ingredients in the product were organically produced. If water and salt are added, that is not part of the count for products.
Made with Organic If a product contains 70% to 95% organically produced ingredients, it can carry a Made with Organic statement on the front of the package.
Less than 70% Organic Products If a product contains less that 70% of organically produced ingredients, the manufacturer can state this only on the back panel of the product.
If you are in the produce section and are not sure if an item is organic, check the PLU (product look up code) stickers on the fruits and vegetables.
Organic products have a five digit PLU starting with the number 9.
Conventional product have only a 4 digit PLU.
Genetically modified products begin with an 8.
In the next article, I will discuss understanding other food labels relating to their methods of food production.
Tags: conventional product, department of agriculture, food label, fruits and vegetables, fruits vegetables, organic ingredients, organic label, organic product, organic products, water and salt