Weaker Organic Standards Sought

WASHINGTON - Jun 15/07 - SNS -- The U.S.-based Organic Trade Association (OTA) wants organic standards in that country relaxed so more non-organic ingredients can be included in processed foods sold with "organic" labels.

The group is urging the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to issue a rule allowing organic manufacturers to continue to use certain minor non-organic agricultural ingredients as approved by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) and published May 15 in a proposed rule.

Until June 9, any non-organic agricultural ingredients, if an organic version were unavailable, could be used in the remaining 5% of the ingredients in products labeled as "Organic" (at least 95% percent of the ingredients in the products in this category must be organic ingredients, excluding water and salt, by weight). That changed due to a court order and USDA's agreement to tighten the qualifications for these agricultural ingredients.

Although USDA published a proposed rule in May, the final rule has yet to be published, despite the June 9 deadline imposed by the court. Because of the court order, unless there is a rule published, organic manufacturers have been advised not to use unapproved non-organic agricultural ingredients in such products. As a result, some organic products consumers have grown to expect could disappear from the marketplace.

"There are 38 non-organic agricultural ingredients that have gone through intensive scrutiny and review, after a strict petition process, and have been recommended by NOSB to be added to the National List," said Caren Wilcox, OTA's Executive Director.

When such a final rule takes effect, only those non-organic agricultural products that have been successfully petitioned to NOSB, published in the Federal Register and checked by a certification body will be allowed when the organic counterpart ingredients are not available. Thus, the number of ingredients allowed under those circumstances will shrink dramatically compared with the situation prior to June 9.

"Since passage of the national organic regulations, many more organic ingredients have become available, but some ingredients are still not available organically in appropriate form, quality or quantity," said Wilcox. "We hope they will be soon."

Only five items currently are on the National List: corn starch, water-extracted gums, kelp, unbleached lecithin, and pectin. The 38 ingredients being considered by the National Organic Program for inclusion on the list include 19 food colorings, two starches, casings for sausages, hops, fish oil, chipotle chili pepper, gelatin, celery powder, dill weed oil, frozen lemongrass, and fructooligosaccharides (a bulking agent and sweetener).