Congress Approves Weakened Organic Standards

I’m a few days late on this, and, quite frankly, the dueling press releases were confusing: The Organic Trade Association trumpets a “restoration of organic standards,” while Consumer’s Union “Derides Dark-of-Night Weakening of Organic Law.” What’s clear is that this is a victory for “Big Organic,” represented by the OTA, which wanted to be able to slap an organic certification label on products that contain “synthetic ingredients in the non-organic portion of food labeled ‘organic.” As CU’s press release notes, Congress’ action goes directly against the ruling on the recent Harvey vs. Johanns case, so I’d imagine that this will quickly end up back in court. In the meantime, I’d guess you’re better off staying away from mass-produced organic foods if you really want to avoid any synthetic ingredients.

Categories: organic, food, labels, Congress, politics, USA