ORGANIC LEVELS

Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op exists in part to make organic food more readily accessible in our community. As national standards for organic foods evolve, and as agricultural industry practices change, the challenge of providing clear labeling to help co-op customers choose organic food is an ongoing task. Here, we provide a brief description of the current state of organic product labeling, and then we describe the clues you can look for in the co-op.

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Why buy organic food?

Organic food is grown and processed without the use of synthetic chemical pesticides, genetically engineered seeds and artificial additives. In addition, ecologically sustainable farming practices are used, relying on continual soil enrichment and biodiversity. Researchers have documented healthy and quality implications: fewer pesticide residues, less groundwater contamination, and apparently higher levels of some nutrients.

For example, in a study of 94,000 food samples across 20 different crops, only 23% of organically grown samples contained pesticide residues, compared with 73% of conventionally grown samples. Multiple pesticide residues were found nine times more often in conventionally grown food.

Cultivation or Processing Technique Conventional Organic
Artificial flavors Yes No
Artificial colors Yes No
Artificial preservatives Yes No
Artificial fertilizers Yes No
Synthetic pesticides Yes No
Irradiation Yes No
Genetically engineered ingredients Yes No

How organic is it?

For whole foods such as fruits, nuts, grains and vegetables, it's pretty much an all-or-none proposition. Either an apple is organically grown or it's not. All of the fresh produce at the co-op is 100% organic.

For processed foods, which often contain a mixture of organic and nonorganic ingredients, the situation is more complicated. For example, a breakfast cereal might be made with organic wheat and nonorganic sweeteners. Until recently, a food manufacturer could call a product "organic" or "natural" even if only a small percentage of it was organically grown.

After years of consumer confusion caused by food-industry abuse of vague terminology, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has defined four levels of organic ingredients:

Level What it means What it looks like
100% Organic All of the ingredients are organic This seal appears on the packaging, usually in combination with the words "100% Organic"
Organic At least 95% of the ingredients are organic This seal appears on the packaging. The word "Organic" may also be used on the packaging.
Made with organic ingredients At least 70% of the ingredients are organic The words "Made with organic ingredients" may appear on the package, but the USDA seal (shown above) cannot be used.
Ingredient panel only Less than 70% of the ingredients are organic Up to three of the ingredients may be labeled "Organic" in the ingredients panel, but no other use of the word "organic" on the packaging is allowed.