Dr. Mercola February 23 2008 44,974 views
Organic foods are a $16 billion a year business, and some are concerned that Department of Agriculture standards and independent third-party verification may be insufficient to prevent fraud.
But Spanish scientists have developed a method of using "nitrogen isotopic discrimination" to determine if non-organic, synthetic fertilizers were used on plants. Since organic fertilizers have nitrogen isotopes that differ from synthetic fertilizers, it is possible to distinguish produce grown using the two different methods.
USDA organic standards are widely considered to be trustworthy, because independent third-party assessors check on farm practices. The USDA recently cracked down on at least one large dairy that let its standards lapse.
Greenwashing, the practice of branding a conventionally grown or processed food as natural or organic, is becoming a pervasive problem. If the label works, then the food inside does not actually have to be organic; an impression of organic-ness is all that is required to partake in the organic goldmine.
Since true organic produce should be grown without synthetic or otherwise toxic fertilizers, being able to introduce a testing procedure that can produce reliable and verifiable results would go a long way to ensure that you’re actually getting what you believe you’re paying for. Unfortunately, as this article states, it may take a while before this method can be put to use on a wide scale, due to costs.
Until then, your best bet is still to be an informed consumer, if not a bit of a sleuth, and do your homework before buying.
Think About It – Does the Label Make Sense?
I’ve already warned readers about the substandard and distorted image of organic foods promoted by companies such as Wal-Mart. Last year, fraud investigators found Wal-Mart guilty of deceptive organic labeling on several products, including Silk Soy Milk and Florida Crystals Natural Sugar, as well as various fresh produce items.
Some advertising experts have expressed the belief that the organic trend may soon be coming to an end, especially with the wake-up call of products like NATURAL Cheetos hitting grocery store shelves.
The question you need to ask yourself is this: Does the label really make sense? Is it possible for Cheetos to be processed and still be considered a natural health food?
Believe me, the day you see “Organic Cheetos” in your grocery store you can kiss the value of the term “organic” goodbye. It will be absolutely worthless as a marker of healthy food, and merely serve as another manipulation tool to deceive the public and take more money from you for unhealthy products.
Other major corporations like Dean Foods, General Mills, Unilever, Mars, Kraft and Kellogg have also jumped in to reap some of the fat margins that are present in organic foods, further distorting the real meaning of organic, and all-natural.
If You Can’t Trust Them, Avoid Them
The trend of organic fraud may linger for years before enough consumers begin to demand to know more about the food products they buy.
Until then, your only solution is to seek out LOCAL suppliers of healthy food where you can actually get to know the people who are growing your food. A good start is to check out some of the suppliers I mentioned in my previous article, How to Get Inexpensive, Organic, Locally-Grown Vegetables.
Always remember, just because someone slaps an organic label on a food product, that label does not somehow magically transform a junk food into a health food. “Organic” sugar and “all-natural” processed foods are every bit as pernicious to your health as conventional sugar and processed foods.
We raise most of our own food, meat and veggies, and even make our own soap, beer, and wine. What we can't/don't raise we get from friends who do. But the USDA is trying to make it impossible for little guys to raise their own meat and if the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is allowed to become mandatory, it will be impossible to find free-range eggs, chicken, beef, etc. Their tracking and premises I.D. requirements will put all small producers out of business. You can kiss raw milk, farmstead cheeses, free-range poultry and eggs good-by forever. Call your Congressmen and Senators and talk to your state representatives, NAIS will force us all to eat heavily processed, mass-produced food!
Is that the same China that puts lead into our children's toys and poisons our pet food with chemical? Huh? Huh?
Actually, my husband reacts badly to the pesticides that are normally used on peanuts, but when he tried organic peanuts from China, he found them to be okay. It appears to us that the Chinese organic growers are being honest, at least in this case. In Japan, meanwhile, where trustworthiness is an important virtue, we've had such a rash of fraudulent labeling recently that the Buddhist monk who decided from a number of entries what letter (kanji) would represent the year 2007 selected "gi," meaning "deceit," and termed it a particularly shameful year. For all my efforts to eat only fresh, unprocessed foods, I continue to have minor health problems which clear up when I go abroad. So, I hat to say it, but watch out for Japan, too.
I think I would be more skeptical of China... How do we know for sure?...
Foxtroter I hope your darn tongue did stick!
If you are considering throwing in the towel on food labeled as "organic", even USDA organic, consider this:
chemical fertilizer in the USA had the weakest regulations compared to other countries in the world that regulated fertilizer. And, the regulations that were in place prior to this administration, only came about after Duff Wilson, an investigative reporter previously with the Seattle Times, had uncovered what became an award winning series entitled Fear in the Fields. Wilson uncovered that legally hazardous wastes went into the silos as hazardous waste but magically came out as fertilizer.
His articles are still in the archives at the Seattle Times, but here is an article by Seattles Times reporter, Tom Brown that I happen to have found.
The date was Wednesday, July 23, 1997, and the article (in the Business section) was entitled:
Food Processors Ask State For Regulations On Toxins In Fertilizer - - Industrial Waste Puts `Public Trust' At Risk
**An association of 75 Northwest food-processing companies wants Washington state to regulate the practice of using industrial-waste products - some of which contain toxic substances - in the production of fertilizer....
"The Northwest Food Processors Association believes that the practice of using industrial byproducts to produce fertilizer should be regulated by the departments of Ecology and Agriculture," said Smith's July 17 memo to Pendowski. "While using industrial byproducts may serve an environmentally sound purpose, these products should meet a risk-based standard prior to being licensed for sale." ...
In stories July 3 and 4, The Seattle Times reported that fertilizers are so poorly regulated that substances containing such hazardous materials as cadmium, lead, arsenic, radioactive elements and dioxins are sometimes included in their manufacture...**
archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/.../display
Beccadog, your informative posts are a refreshing change from the anecdotal personal experiences and knee-jerk rants. Your contributions are a valuable addition to this site!
yes, thank you beccadog!