The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has just announced the final adoption of the first standards that the US government has ever imposed for the labeling and processing of organic foods.

The new federal standards, which were ordered by Congress back in 1990 and then took more than a decade to produce, contain the following restrictions, for any food labeled organic.

US Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman called the new regulations "the strongest and most comprehensive organic standard in the world."

Katherine DiMatteo, a spokeswoman for the organic foods industry, welcomed the regulations. "The long wait for the final rule was worthwhile," said Ms. DiMatteo, executive director of the Organic Trade Association. "USDA has delivered a strict organic standard that is a great boost to the organic industry. In no way is this final rule less than what the industry wanted."

The regulations come at a time of soaring popularity for organic foods. Domestic sales have increased more than 20 percent annually each year since 1990, and reached $6 billion last year.

Sales are so good that large conventional-food companies have been buying up smaller organic companies. Some examples are:

• General Mills owns Cascadian Farm and Muir Glen Tomatoes

The regulations divide organic labeling into four labeling categories:

100 Percent Organic - Products must contain only organic ingredients

Organic - Products must be at least 95 percent organic by weight

Made with Organic Ingredients - Processed products that contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients

In addition, processed products with less than 70 percent organic ingredients may list those ingredients on the information panel as being organic but may not carry the term "organic" anywhere on the front of the package.

A "USDA" organic seal may appear on products in the first two categories (and in their advertisements), but not on the others.

In a concession to the National Food Processors Association (NFPA), a trade group made up mostly of conventional-food processors, the USDA changed the organic seal from an originally proposed shield, such as the one that goes on meat, eggs and other products that are government-inspected, to a circle.

The NFPA had also asked the agency to put a disclaimer on organic labels, so that they would say such food was no safer and no more nutritious than conventional food, but this request was denied.

The New York Times reports that Tim Willard, the NFPA's vice president for communications, said "The challenge for USDA is to make sure consumers don't think the seal of approval means that the food is safer or more nutritious."

For more information about the new regulations, go to the USDA's National Organic Program Website

New York Times, December 21, 2000

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Here is another good example of consumers and activists taking action and getting results, despite the fact that there was significant opposition from a lot of the non-organic industry. The original USDA proposed regulations were much too lenient, but with nearly 300,000 responses submitted in response, they tightened up the standards significantly. Related Articles: USDA Sets Rules For Organic Meat, Poultry U.S. Proposes To Ban Genetically Engineered Foods In New Organic Rules Organic Cropland Doubled in 1990s Organic Farming Has Dramatic Increase In Europe EPA Muzzles Benefits of Organic Benefits