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Entry bubble Organics, and Free-Range, and Naturals, OH MY!

By: Sommer | September 21, 2007 | Category: Health

I’m Sommer, your Friday blogger. I look forward to sharing government information that I encounter and use in my every day life and also to hearing your thoughts and suggestions of other great resources you know about. I know it’s the end of the week so thanks for checking out my post!

Lately, grocery shopping is less fun than normal. For once, though, it’s not because I’m going to 3 different stores each week just to buy what’s on sale. (Yes, I’m very cheap...) Now I’m on a new quest, this time to buy organic foods, which is almost harder than shopping the sales! Other than being more expensive (OUCH!) than conventional foods, it’s also hard to understand the whole host of organic food labels out there.

What’s the difference between “100% Organic” and “Made with Organic Ingredients”? What about labels that say “Natural” or “free-range”? Why do some foods carry the USDA Organic seal and some don’t?

This is what I found out:

  • Organic means that food producers must adhere to strict standards including not using antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, irradiation or bioengineering; they must adhere to certain soil and water conservation methods; and to rules about the humane treatment of animals.
  • “Organic” and “Natural” don’t mean the same thing. Also, “free-range,” "cage-free," and “hormone-free” don’t necessarily mean organic either.
  • Four categories  of “Organic”:
    1. 100% Organic: self explanatory, usually fresh foods,
    2. Organic (95% - 100% organic): usually fresh foods,
    3. Made with organic ingredients (at least 70% organic): packaged foods,
    4. Contains organic ingredients (less than 70% organic): packaged foods.
  • Only 100% Organic and Organic foods are allowed to use the USDA Organic Seal. Here’s what it looks like: 
USDA Organic Seal

 For more information visit the National Organic Program web site.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [6] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: food   health   organic   sommer  

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