By Barbara H. Peterson
Organic is organic, or is it? It would seem that it is all a matter of perspective when one takes a stroll through the mountains of documents on the FDA and USDA websites.
The word “organic” is fast becoming a high-dollar money-maker for corporations smart enough to jump on the bandwagon and start marketing their products as “made with organic ingredients,” or “certified organic.” Even Monsanto is taking advantage of this burgeoning market, and people naïve enough to believe that what we have traditionally thought of as pure, organic food, is still that way, are being duped.
It makes perfect sense, however, in a Machiavellian sort of way. Flood the food supply with poisons, then lead people to believe that the only safe choice left is USDA Certified Organic. Then buy up the organic companies one by one, and start changing the “organic” rules from the inside out via the bought and paid for government agencies so that you can reap the profits from those trying to escape the poisons.
Click to enlarge
So let’s take a closer look at just what the word “organic” refers to according to these government agencies. You might be surprised at what we find. The fact that the very agencies (FDA and USDA), which are supposed to be protecting our organic food supply, are intensely active in its adulteration will become apparent.
What is “Certified Organic?”
In the USDA Certified Organic Program, there are four categories established for labeling purposes:
Section 205.301 establishes the organic content requirements for different labeling provisions specified under this program. The type of labeling and market information that can be used and its placement on different panels of consumer packages and in market information is based on the percentage of organic ingredients in the product. The percentage must reflect the actual weight or fluid volume (excluding water and salt) of the organic ingredients in the product. Four categories of organic content are established: 100 percent organic; 95 percent or more organic; 70 to 95 percent organic; and less than 70 percent organic. (Organic Labeling Preamble)
If an item is labeled 100% Organic, then it is supposed to contain nothing but organic ingredients and processing aids that are organically produced.
Products labeled Certified Organic must contain 95% organic ingredients.
Up to 5 percent of the ingredients may be nonagricultural substances (consistent with the National List) and, if not commercially available in organic form pursuant to section 205.201, nonorganic agricultural products and ingredients in minor amounts (hereinafter referred to as minor ingredients) (spices, flavors, colorings, oils, vitamins, minerals, accessory nutrients, incidental food additives). The nonorganic ingredients must not be produced using excluded methods [GMO], sewage sludge, or ionizing radiation. (Organic Labeling Preamble)
70-95% Organic, labeled “Made with Organic Ingredients,” can contain the kitchen sink in the 5-30% of ingredients that are not organic. They can be grown with pesticides, but without the sewage sludge, and cannot be irradiated or genetically modified organisms (GMO).
70% Organic, which is labeled “Contains Organic Ingredients,” can contain the kitchen sink along with the pesticides, sewage sludge, irradiation, and GMOs.
Organic Labeling Preamble Chart
A Matter of Perspective
Let’s say that you have a product that you think is better than its conventional counterpart because it has “certified organic” ingredients. So you buy it and think that you are getting healthier because you are eating mostly good, pure food. It is the word “organic” that led you to believe this. However, if an organic ingredient is mixed with conventional ingredients, doesn’t it become polluted? It’s like putting gasoline in a glass of pure water and charging a premium for that water because it only contains 30% of the contaminant. 30% contamination is probably better than 100%, but would you want to drink it? The whole glass of water is poisoned due to the gasoline, yet the companies selling this product would like you to believe that because it contains pure water it is good. They also know that they can charge you premium prices for that flawed perception.
The FDA and USDA would like us to believe that using “certified organic ingredients” somehow makes the poisons they allow in the other 30% okay, and companies charge through the nose for these adulterated products. It is a matter of perspective. Just how much gasoline in your water are you willing to tolerate just so you can live under the illusion that you are consuming a more pure product? And just how high a price are you willing to pay for it?
Organic Sleight of Hand
“USDA Certified Organic” is a big business, and the deception is great. With a bit of sleight of hand, by simply moving a word around a bit, you have a complete subterfuge.
(1) Use of “Organic” in Product Names. The NOSB, State organic program (SOP) managers, certifying agents, and a large number of individual commenters strongly recommended that USDA prohibit use of the term, “organic,” to modify an ingredient in a product name if the ingredient, itself, is not produced organically. The examples offered were “organic chocolate ice cream” and “organic cherry sweets” in which the ice cream and candy are at least 95 percent organic but the chocolate and cherry flavoring is not organically produced.
We agree with commenters that such product names can be misleading and would be a violation of section 205.300(a). In the examples, the word, “organic,” precedes the words, “chocolate” and “cherry,” and clearly implies that those ingredients are organically produced. The chocolate and cherry flavorings must be organically produced to be used in this way. If the product is at least 95 percent organically produced but the flavoring is nonorganic, the word sequence must be reversed or the word, “flavored,” must be added to the name; e.g., “chocolate organic ice cream” or “chocolate flavored organic ice cream.” A sentence has been added to section 205.300(a) to specify that the term, “organic,” may not be used in a product name to identify an ingredient that is not organically produced. (Organic Labeling Preamble)
So, you see how “organic chocolate ice cream” means that both the chocolate and the ice cream are organic, but if you reverse two words and make it “chocolate organic ice cream,” the chocolate is not organic. Or if you are really adept at manipulation, you can actually manufacture “organic beer” with conventional hops, label it “USDA Certified Organic,” and charge a premium price for it. See the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances, which includes hops as one of the approved non-organic substances allowed in USDA Certified Organic products.
Government Treachery
If the FDA is here to help us instead of make money for its corporate owners, don’t you think this agency would demand that labeling be perfectly clear? If the USDA is here to help us, why would it have allowed the gross pollution and treachery that abounds in the National Organics Program (NOP) to have even gotten a foothold in what was the last bastion of safety left in our food supply?
ORGANIC IS ORGANIC. When it is mixed with non-organic ingredients, it is no longer organic, and no amount of agency double-talk will change that. When you play word games to trick people into purchasing something because they see the word “organic” on the label because you have led them to believe it is safe and better than the rest, all in the name of corporate profits, then organic or not, you are one of the bad guys. Period.
Neotame
Wikipedia
Neotame can be included in USDA Certified “Contains Organic Ingredients” without labeling. As I stated in a previous article “USDA Certified Organic’s Dirty Little Secret: Neotame,” Neotame does not have to be labeled. Period. Why? Because the FDA approved it as a general purpose sweetener, and it is designated as a “flavor, or flavor enhancer.” And since it is not a protein hydrolysate, the following applies:
If the flavor consists of two or more ingredients, the label either may declare each ingredient by its common or usual name or may state “All flavor ingredients contained in this product are approved for use in a regulation of the Food and Drug Administration.” Any flavor ingredient not contained in one of these regulations, and any nonflavor ingredient, shall be separately listed on the label. (FDA)
A document taken from the FDA site even states that pre-approval studies indicated that Neotame is not safe, yet it “was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for general use in July 2002” (Wikipedia).
Sweetos
Enter Sweetos. Sweetos is Neotame. It was created for human and animal use.
EnSigns Health Care Pvt Ltd and The NutraSweet Co USA have recently launched ‘Sweetos’, a cattle feed sweetener. Sweetos has been developed with neotame, a high intensity sweetener.
Amino acids based sweetener Neotame is 8,000 to 13,000 times sweeter than sugar and is a patented product of the NutraSweet Co USA. Ensigns is one of the leading manufacturers of Sweetos, low calorie sweeteners for the food industry. Together the two companies have launched this sweetener to be added to cattle feed. (Business Standard)
Organic livestock feed uses a similar type of labeling system as human food.
(c) Products sold, labeled, or represented as “made with organic (specified ingredients or food group(s)).” Multiingredient agricultural product sold, labeled, or represented as “made with organic (specified ingredients or food group(s))” must contain (by weight or fluid volume, excluding water and salt) at least 70 percent organically produced ingredients which are produced and handled pursuant to requirements in subpart C of this part. No ingredients may be produced using prohibited practices specified in paragraphs (f)(1), (2), and (3) of §205.301. Nonorganic ingredients may be produced without regard to paragraphs (f)(4), (5), (6), and (7) of §205.301. If labeled as containing organically produced ingredients or food groups, such product must be labeled pursuant to §205.304.
(d) Products with less than 70 percent organically produced ingredients. The organic ingredients in multiingredient agricultural product containing less than 70 percent organically produced ingredients (by weight or fluid volume, excluding water and salt) must be produced and handled pursuant to requirements in subpart C of this part. The nonorganic ingredients may be produced and handled without regard to the requirements of this part. Multiingredient agricultural product containing less than 70 percent organically produced ingredients may represent the organic nature of the product only as provided in §205.305. (GPO Access)
As in human food regulations, the non-organic ingredients in “Made with Organic Ingredients” and “Contains Organic Ingredients” can contain the kitchen sink.
The question must be asked: Do we really want our cattle to be consuming feed that is made with a neurotoxin? How will it affect the animals that eat it? And just how will eating these animals affect us?
Endless Compromise
When did we learn to accept anything less than the best? When did we acquiesce to inferiority? To the endless compromise of our food supply? Why do we think that we somehow deserve to be robbed blind, lied to, poisoned for profit, and cheated every step of the way by the corrupt corporate system that acts like a black hole – sucking in everything and giving nothing back in return except abject misery? And why do we seem to like it? Why do we keep going back for more instead of ridding ourselves of these pariahs? Do you really want to know why? Because we have been trained that way! That’s why we accept “organic beer” made with conventional hops, and USDA Certified “contains organic ingredients” food items that have been poisoned with the likes of Neotame. We accept these things because we have been conditioned to think that this is somehow okay. It’s time to change our way of thinking.
It’s time to stop bowing to multi-national corporations who may or may not be what we think they are. Know your food producer. Know what you are eating. Become a food warrior, and fight for the right to not be deceived. Know how to read labels and figure out what the ingredients really are. The more people that wake up to the reality that we are surrounded by people who couldn’t care less about our health and are actually out to do us harm as long as they can profit by it, the better our chances of survival. Make no mistake about it. We are in a food war, and that is a war for our very lives.
© 2010 Barbara H. Peterson
Tags: Barbara H. Peterson, farmwars, FDA, labeling, Neotame, neurotoxin, nop, organic, poison, USDA
Oh yea. Thanks for this invaluable information!
No one mentions WHY the governments are poisoning the people. Its all about the approaching Planet X and the chemtrails that hide it every day globally. They lied to us for 26 years while they stole our money to make them safe places while they plan to leave us on the surface to die. That is the reason.
What is the future of truly organic food?
Jan. 5, 2011 Bill: S 510 Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act. With Monsanto’s blessing.
Bye bye.
Soon it will be illegal to consume, trade, share, grow, transport or otherwise use any food produced without permit by the FDA.
The new regulation will get rid of many mid-small organic growers who can not afford to tow the line of the new regulations.
The ramifications are frightening!
Great job Barb, for decades the Organic powers that be have fought solely for money, position and power at the expense of the producers and consumers.
Excellent article and really gave me insight into how it all gets manipulated.
With out a doubt the food chain is being made more toxic, either through pesticides,herbicides,chemicals, artifical flavours/colours, sweetners, MSG,Aspartame, preservatives,We are being given crap and pay for it….
Organic meant to me, unsulled by human hands, I thought I could trust it, now I know what is going on behind the scenes, I shall grow as much as I can. ( I was anyway, but will increase that as much as possible)
An interesting development. Here is a snip from an article supposedly debunking my findings at the Organic Consumers Association:
“None of the bloggers who perpetuate this anti-organic myth reference primary sources to substantiate their claims. As their sources, they reference one another instead of going to the source – such as the Code of Federal Regulations.” http://www.organicconsumers.or....._22312.cfm
Anti organic? Calling for the elimination of artificial substances from pure organic food is somehow anti-organic? That’s rich. This statement by Cornucopia is a complete falsehood. All you have to do is read my article, and click on all of the USDA and FDA source material. It is all there.
The anti-organic rhetoric is a game played by the ones bought and paid for by the companies overtaking the organics industry and changing it to suit their own purposes. These are the people who are truly anti-organic while pretending to be otherwise. Just follow the money trail.
Here are a few of the foundations that this organization receives funding from:
John Merck Fund $200,000.00 1999 – 2002
Tides Foundation & Tides Center $45,500.00 2001 – 2002
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors $57,176.00 2000 – 2005
This information can be verified at: http://activistcash.com/organi.....ssociation
Thank-you Barb, I mailed this out to several friends.
Chef Shawn said:
“I think it’s also important to note that the FDA and USDA do not claim to think organic food is in any way superior to ‘conventionally’ produced food. As far as they are concerned, the term ‘organic’ is a marketing term just like ‘low fat,’ ‘0 trans fat,’ etc.”
This is an excellent point! The FDA has been dragged kicking and screaming to the issue to get ANY honesty at all in food labeling. Case in point the disclaimer on some growth hormone free cheese I bought yesterday:
“By law we must note: The FDA has stated that there is no significant difference between milk from rBST treated and untreated cows.”
Ya right!!! No difference unless you like extra pus and diabetes from your dairy products. With “friends” like the FDA who needs enemies.
I was a dairy farmer who suffered through the ‘certified organic’ experience. My handlers were Organic Valley, MOSA and National Farmer’s Organization. I signed a ‘contract’ in 2000. I was deemed expendable in 2008. My wife and I, that is. Our children. We had/have a small family farm. The kind they want you to believe they represent. It was struggle then financially, and it is a MUCH worse struggle financially now. All my precious cows, save two (we milk by hand), had to be slaughtered after we lost ‘organic certification’. We had no means to care for them anymore. We were broken. I was broken.
It was a nightmare experience of intimidation, graft, extortion and outright theft. Ending in the further nightmare of now living devastated, in a culture that doesn’t respond to goodness, IT TAKES ADVANTAGE OF GOODNESS. And leaves you like a dead corpse on the side of the road, when it is done with you.
Anyone who thinks ‘certified organic’ is somehow good is a fool.
For further proof, even if you don’t care about the farms already desroyed, like ours, check out what Organic Valley is doing to those small family farms still trying to survive (amidst the leviathans) by perhaps marketing some of their milk ‘raw’ and local. I’m sure Barb Peterson or Marti Oakley can give you deetails….
I have nothing but hatred and extreme contempt for our bureaucratic totalitarian dictatorship as it funnels its total command and control (Full spectrum dominance) through the money and business systems it has surreptitiously erected.
It takes people and turns them into animals.
Believe me, I know, I’ve been there.
nedlud
went to a healthfood store with a friend. had a good laugh when I noticed they were selling “organic salt”. how can a chemical be organic? lol some people believe anything.
Thank you Barbara for a great article and please keep it up!
Aaron needs to realize the point is that the government is actively promoting outright deception and it is harming ALL of us.
Bob Time
Whatever piece of uncontaminated food that you bring home will go bad once you place it on your non-stick surface pan that will produce the neurotoxic chemicals that you did not get from the food you purchased. Don’t worry about not getting enough sugar in your meal, it is likely that you will finish your home cooked meal with 10%-juice juice rich in sugar. Colorants and other additives are to finish off your liver.
As it is written:
Rev. 6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. 7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. 8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.Whatever piece of uncontaminated food that you bring home will go bad once you place it on your non-stick surface pan that will produce the neurotoxic chemicals purchased get from thr food you purchased.
Only A GIFT ECONOMY can save us all from manipulations – FREE WATERS, FREE SPACE, FREE LAND, FREE GOLD, FREE MINERALS… to all 6 billion people because working for FREE out od PASSION/FRIENDSHIP in the image of wikipedia collaborators is motivating!
Thanks for the grammar correction, Joe :)
Barbara, thank you so much for the insight and info. For those who can not find time to do this type of research, you are indeed a blessing. Continue the good work. I am so glad to see that so many readers are aware that the government agencies are here to protect the ordinary citizen.
Barbara said: “Just because the word “organic” appears on the package does not mean it is a completely organic product.” Ha, ha, just like “whole wheat” does not mean wheat bread!! Only that there is some whole wheat in it.
Excellent article and commentary. So glad to see liked minded people are out there. You know whats scary though is that those rebuttals might not be from gov trolls. Im surrounded by people daily that havent a clue to whats going on.” Building 7? Whats that?” and ” Those are normal trails from commercial airliners” are two of my favorites. Truth and Love WILL prevail, lets just try to minimize our casualties along the way.
It’s “COULDN’T care less”!
This is one of the most common and irritating mistakes in print today, and any decent journalist should know better. If one states, “I could care less”, it means that he or she could care even less than he or she already does. By extension, this means that said individual is not yet at the minimum level of concern.
Otherwise, great article!
re: first 2 comments by Aaron and Lindsay. i have lately noticed that on this site, on Deborah Dupre’s site (The Examiner/National-Human-Rights) and some other websites that attempt to get the TRUTH to the abused citizens of the US – the very first comments posted, or even accepted to be posted – are attempts to disprove these authors’ research.
haven’t we all heard about Cass Sunstein’s philosophy of infiltration? this mostly happens by way of paid operatives, who identify humanitarian websites and do their best to discredit the authors. just one problem: for anyone with half a brain, the tactics and rhetoric used by these “ops” are quite obvious.
get a better job, you paid jerks.
The perception that there is nothing better than USDA Organic Certification is just a perception, the reality is that in the growing and processing of USDA Organic foods, about 275 + approved non agricultural (synthetic chemicals) are allowed. That also includes anything for which there isn’t an organic equivalent.
So, stretching the imagination, horse manure or Mercury could be included in food and the food could still be certified as Organic, since there isn’t commercially available organic horse manure or mercury.
That is how Soy lecithin slithered it’s way into so many organic foods, a substance considered to be a dangerous industrial toxin. If you eat any soy products intentionally or by indifference, please inform yourself.
http://www.natural-health-home.....m/soy.html
Stay Healthy!
Toni
do know that these degrees of organic only concern Processed foods. If you eat only whole foods and do the processing yourself (i.e. you cook at home and do eat the processed crap as it is all crap be it Organic or conventional-at least Organic does not use GMO’s nor HFCS bur when processed it is pretty denatured food).
if you don’t like the NOP than buy all your food locally, that is what I do. But of course you will have to know a lot about food and how it should be grown as there are a lot of small local farmers who claim Organic even thoufh they do use inputs such as “a little bit” of Sevin or RoundUp. And if you buy meat and eggs be sure to ask if the feed they use (if any) if Organic or at the very least GMO and drug free.
me, I use get my far certified before the USA came in but quit after that and kept on farming sustainably. i buy local and don’t buy a lot of Industrial Organic food. I also sell a lot of pure and local food direct to my customers and i bit a lot of pure and local food from other farmers in my area, some certified Organic, some not but from farms that are sustainable.
I was always wondering how honey can be labeled “organic”… Does anyone in USDA know how bees collect the nectar to make it?
Even 100% organic food can be grown in soil fertilized with conventional CAFO manure.This is common practice and ,yes, the organic grains ,fruits and vegetables grown in these fields do contain herbicide,pesticide and antibiotic residues.Animals and animal products raised on “organic” feed grown with this conventional manure do concentrate these substances in their eggs and meat especially the fat.The conventional CAFO manure actually inhibits the bacteria that was thought to accomplish the breakdown of these toxins in the soil.Repeated applications of contaminated manure leads to an increasing buildup of chemicals due to the decline of bacterial activity.The result is that “organic” food and animal feed,even that labeled 100% organic is increasing in chemical contamination every year and at an increasing rate! “Organic” food can be and likely is as contaminated with agricultural chemicals as conventional food.The certification is now meaningless.
It’s good that more people are becoming aware of what is truly going on out there!
I applaud Barbara & others alike!
Make no mistake sheeple, no doubt there likely are government shills, infiltrating this forum & others alike, in order to cause confusion, division etc. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!
Remember they are few, but us are many!
Anyone who truly is aware & knows which creatures are really manipulating & governing worldly events, will never be the same again.
Why would the elite then, have an underground seeds vault in Norway? They genetically alter & manipulate things, yet for themselves save the unaltered & pure seeds!
It’s not only about $$$, it’s also about control over the masses & they will use any tactic at their disposal to accomplish that. They run the Government from behind the scenes, which is one main reason, NOT to trust them!!
The so-called Georgia Guidestones are real, and they will use any means necessary, to reduce the population for their very own ends, so to be able to better control them!
Messing & tampering around with the food supply, is one genius way for these Creatures to get this accomplished.
So pls be VIGILANT people from these creatures!
Hate to be blunt but if anyone believes what the Government is selling on any subject, well what can I say. Your misinformed. How come they don’t tell us that the medical community kill’s 225,000 people every year due to errors that they make, and that’s just in the U.S.
So glad you’ve shed some light on this Barbara. It is confusing the way organic is being used to deceive. I read labels, but from now on will take a closer look on the info given above. When aspertame and all the other tames got approved, I really began to question the validity of organic. This is down right poison being put into our food. Thanks again for alerting us.
Thanks for this great forum to discuss truth and who is suppressing it. The government only lies about everything. Let’s
see, AIDS, cancer, vaccines, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, 911, Chemtrails, GFC, roundup, Swine flu, Spanish flu, Bird flu etc… ad infinitum. They are so busy lying how do you expect them to have time to tell the truth, let alone remember what it is?
Aaron and Lindsey probably work for Monsanto. We all know we can trust Monsanto. (sarc)
Thanks for the scare tactic , I will still enjoy as much ORGANIC FOOD as I can , nice try though lol
Let’s see, what was the figure? Oh yea! 9 of the last 12 directors of the FDA went to work for companies they previously regulated. Ought to be a law against this sort of corruption. Sometimes it seems we are on our own.
We might take a lesson from some other countries: Venezuela disallows GMO/Monsanto to invade their dirt. Cuba the same. Bolivia is coming around as is Ecuador. When one considers USDA and Monsanto are joint owners of terminator seeds there is a tendency to discount anything put forth as transparency on the part of either. My suggestion is to plant GMO like crazy, douse it daily with Round Up chemicals, create dead earth and super weeds and unkillable insects but do it only on properties owned by shareholders in the destructive companies and those representing them in government. What is produced by this process earmark for their consumption alone.
If it’s as good as they say, they will surely applaud us for our efforts.
I offer this suggestion without malice.
Aaron and Lindsey are obvious gov’t trolls. No one could be stupid enough to trust Uncle Scam otherwise. But a nice fat paycheck goes a long way to blinding the eyes of those who can be bribed to the readily apparent TRUTH.
Well here is why first hand, I don’t trust the USDA. Here in Canada we have a product called Florida’s Natural Fruit Snacks, which is “certified USDA Organic” but the product is made in CHINA. I could go on forever from this point out, but I’m sure most of you get the point. Impossible.
Leave while you still can.
This is an excellent site, and I am glad to have found it. I like how most people use their names, and I really like how Ms. Peterson addresses pretty much every reply that calls for one. I became a vegetarian early in my adulthood, back when the word ‘organic’ really did not even exist yet. Back when it was hippies (yeah, hippies; too bad many of you became the very things you protested against) and a few others. I managed, and then owned, a couple of small health food stores just as the organics industry was burgeoning, just when the corporate moneychangers begin to see the writing on the wall. That there is a group of people who just require food as pristine as this non-pristine planet can provide. Now, we are getting ready for some further drastic changes. More poisons to contend with, organic or not; regulatory watering down of just what organic means; perhaps even the ability for garden growers to produce their own. 9/11; forever wars; inside manipulation of Wall Street rewarded with billions in bailouts when the ponzi schemes shook and rattled; the surveillance and security state…….these are all things which will make the food issue one which is easily maneuvered wherever Monsanto and Cargill and ADM and DuPont want it to be. Their like own Congress. They will only be stifled when consumers no longer purchase anything from such companies. This will take an education public, and I am afraid that the programming of the American mind will not allow for such education to take place. We are up a fast-moving creek, without a paddle, and those still able to think for themselves will be chastised, ridiculed, and then dealt with. Trolls like Lindsay and Aaron will continue to show up on sites like this to confuse people and cast their lot with those in power. They are good soldiers in the war on truth, their intent is to deflect us from it.
Great article, and some wonderful follow-up commentary. I worked briefly (because I quit) as the Organic Systems and Certification Manager for a cattle farm some years ago, and let’s just say that pretty much cemented my view of the “Certified Organic” label.
I think it’s also important to note that the FDA and USDA do not claim to think organic food is in any way superior to “conventionally” produced food. As far as they are concerned, the term “organic” is a marketing term just like “low fat,” “0 trans fat,” etc. All of those claims are also shady and misleading when you look at what they really mean, of course. The point is that they aren’t claiming that these terms stand for anything other than a marketing tool, and they treat them accordingly. I think it’s really important for consumers to keep that in mind when they’re looking at marketing labels.
Aaron should just try to show us where we should have any faith in his system of oversight? Maybe instead of trolling he can point out somewhere where good has been done. The onus is on him to make it right not us.
Lindsay goes to show the misinformation and misdirection. I’m not sure I want anyone meddling with the standards of what is organic. If those corporations are involved it’s actually time to stop eating that too. “I just disagree with the tone and assumption that there’s a government conspiracy and that the USDA (or FDA) wants the citizenry to eat poison.” Well, wake up Lindsay! It’s frickin’ well way worse than that already!
If we need to straighten them out then what is their job?
I’ve been pointing this crap out since long before I posted this article Why Are You So Fat? and I’m glad to see that more people are waking up due to “every little bit counts”. Make no mistakes about the infowars!
In the end evil people have to judge themselves. It could be much better if you just “get that through your thick skulls”. Sigh!
Barbara,
I want to thank you for your time and effort in bringing this information to the attention of readers. I wish everyone could see this for what it is instead of critiquing it for what they “think” it states, or “think” it doesn’t state.
This IS GOOD information to consider, even if it may be “confusing”. Ever try decifering the “U.S. Tax Code”?
My personal opinion is that if our current day government is involved in anything, people should beware.
If one chosses to live in ignorance, it is in the end, their choice.
Thanks again for your article!
Hi Lindsay,
The word “organic” is used in many different ways, and needs to be understood in the context in which it is used. For labeling purposes, there are actually 4 levels of “organic” labeling allowed on packages. When I started out with this, I thought there were only 3, but have since found out differently. They are:
100% Organic
Certified Organic
Made with Organic Ingredients
Contains Organic Ingredients
Not all of these categories may contain non-organic substances. In fact, we can only be relatively assured of getting pure organic items if we buy 100% Organic. However, even these ingredients can be made from non-organically produced seeds if organic ones are not available. I ran across that bit of information yesterday.
The statement issued by the NOP conveniently leaves out this information, and concentrates on stating Neotame “is NOT permitted in organic foods or foods labeled “made with organic [specified ingredient or food group],” nor is it permitted in organic livestock feed,” is essentially correct. However, one must understand what this means in reference to labeling. The first three categories (there is conflicting info regarding the third – “made with organic ingredients” – on the websites, so I will include it) must comply with the National List in organic food processing. The fourth category does not have that restriction.
It’s all about semantics, as demonstrated in the “chocolate organic ice cream” example taken from their own site. Be careful of what you buy, and know the difference between the categories, or you could be getting something completely different than what you expect. Just because the word “organic” appears on the package does not mean it is a completely organic product.
Barbara, it’s good someone is informing the public that “certified organic” only means 95% organic. Otherwise I would have assumed that organic means 100% organic. For people who want to eat only organic foods, that’s an important distinction. I just disagree with the tone and assumption that there’s a government conspiracy and that the USDA (or FDA) wants the citizenry to eat poison.
I trust the FDA and the USDA about as far as I can throw them. It is obvious that government agencies created to “protect” the public are run by former execs from the same industries they are suppose to police. So I think “in cahoots” is a very accurate way to describe these bureaucrats. It’s a revolving door. They are insiders. They are appointed by corrupt politicians because they know they will look out for the big food corporations interest.
Most food found in the supermarket is poison that the government approves. It is not just an absence of nutrition, Which alone is a serious issue. It is full of poisons approved by the FDA. I think they are intentionally poisoning Americans. Why? So they can’t afford the drug industry health care (more poison) so then we get government health care shoved down our throats. Now they can completely control us because we are dependent on them from the cradle to the grave.
America is sick. America needs a new revolution. A health revolution. Both political parties are corrupt. I don’t think they are doing it just for profit. I think they are doing it intentionally to control us by making us sick. Nobody can afford to go see a doctor these days and all they do is prescribe drugs that either kill you or make you addicted to them. Most Americans are very ignorant about what products are in their food. What the food industry is doing is criminal and the FDA approves it. You can’t trust food corporations and you definitely can’t trust the government. Cahoots is an understatement.
I could go on but that is my rant of the day! I didn’t even get to Monsanto or Bayer. BTW – I am a conspiracy theorist and proud of it!
Gee… you government trolls are all over this. Nice paycheck? Why don’t you leave we humans alone? Please go away.
ducq
Funny how fast, Aaron and Lindsay are to criticize “the author”…
In my opinion, Lindsay, what I see in Wikipedia about “neotame”, depending on the version (if you go back a bit in wiki history, that is) it is not so clear cut as you put it…
Why would the U.S. government be candid regarding the health value of the food supply? The concept that their war on science is a Republican monopoly and is restricted to astronomy, sexuality, geology and biology is naive.
In fact, how much truth and service can we expect from a government who has given cover and protection to the hi-tech terrorists who demolished the twin towers with shock, awe, and 2,000+ people?
Love,
Aaron,
Since there is conflicting information from the FDA and USDA sites, the following phrase in the follow-up “The USDA’s Organic Deception” article has been changed from
Neotame can be included in the USDA Certified “Made With Organic Ingredients” classification as well as “Contains Organic Ingredients” without labeling.
to
Neotame can be included in the USDA Certified classification “Contains Organic Ingredients” without labeling.
The rest stands as is, since the information came from the FDA and USDA sites. If it is incorrect, please let these agencies know that they need to revise their public information.
Lindsay,
Go ahead and trust the government to police your food. I do not. I would rather place my trust in the local farmer than any government agency. I am sorry that the article confused you, as it contains references from the FDA and USDA sites, which is confusing at best. If you really want to understand what it says, I suggest you take the time to really go through the rules and regulations. There are 4 classifications of organic food. Not all allow prohibited substances.
Isn’t this amazing. You used their charts and their rules and regulations……and YOU are misleading people.
I find it equally amazing that these people claim not to have the time to answer questions posed by the public regarding most any issue, the same people who hand out bogus information, contract with corporations like Monsanto to develope terminator seeds and other GMO garbage, the same people and organizations who routinely devise deceptive rules and regulations to swindle the public, but they have time to come on here and claim you are misleading people.
If the article was an attempt to mislead and strike fear in people’s minds..it would simply have been titled “The USDA/FDA is still in business”. That would be enough to frighten the most cynical and hardened among us.
Face it she beat you up with your own crap. If you don’t like it, you have only yourself to blame.
MARTI OAKLEY
Oh, good point Aaron. Neotame isn’t even on that list, nor is Sweetos.
I think the author gets confused because she says “certified organic” has to be 95% organic, and then in the rest of the article seems to assume it’s only 70% organic. I’m not sure if the other 5 or 30% should be considered “poisons” either, without some evidence to that effect.
The author seems upset that hops is included on the approved nonorganic list, but hops is a flower! The author links to the wikipedia entry about neotame, which I assume is one of the “poisons” she says is allowed into “certified organic” foods, but that very wikipedia entry states that neotame is one of only two artificial sweeteners ranked as “safe” by a non-profit consumer advocacy group.
I don’t even want to read the rest of the article because the author’s general assumption – prior to presenting any evidence – is that the USDA is in cahoots with corporations and is allowing poison into foods.
Without government regulations specifying exactly what can be labeled as organic, those corporations could label anything and everything as 110% organic and nobody could do anything about it short of a lawsuit.
Again you are misleading the public by your posts on Organic and I request you have your information fact checked before posting and causing undue negative press for the Organic industry.
You can not “include the kitchen sink” in the remaining percentage of ingredients in an organic or made with organic ingredient for human consumption. They only SYNTHETIC materials allowed in a product with the word “organic” anywhere on the Principle Display Panel are those included on the National List of the NOP regulation (205.605 for human food). As far as cattle go, again this is a synthetic material and not allowed. The NOP (National Organic Program) sent an email to insiders today with the following information:
The National Organic Program has received inquiries concerning Internet claims that the artificial sweetener Neotame is allowed in organic foods.
To clarify, it is NOT permitted in organic foods or foods labeled “made with organic [specified ingredient or food group],” nor is it permitted in organic livestock feed.
Neotame Not Allowed in Organic Foods
All additives used as ingredients or processing aids for foods labeled “organic” or “made with organic [specified ingredient or food group]” must appear on the National List (7 CFR 205.605-205.606).
The NOP is not aware of any complaints at present regarding Neotame in organic food products. Complaints may be filed by phone or e-mail to the NOP Compliance and Enforcement Division:
NOP Compliance and Enforcement
USDA Agricultural Marketing Service
1400 Independence Ave., SW
Mail Stop 0268
Washington, D.C. 20250
Phone: 202-720-3252
Fax: 202-205-7808
E-mail: nopcompliance@ams.usda.gov