USDA may relax standards for organic foods

The USDA agency is considering a list of 38 nonorganic spices, colorings and other ingredients that would be allowed in products it deems 'organic.' However, even though a federal judge had given the USDA until midnight Friday to name the nonorganic ingredients it would allow in organic foods, the agency did not release its final list by the end of the day.

Many nonorganic ingredients, including hops, are already being used in organic products, thanks to a USDA interpretation of the Organic Foods Protection Act of 1990: manufacturers can use nonorganic ingredients only if organic versions are not "commercially available." Food makers have found a way around this barrier, in part because the USDA doesn't enforce the rule directly. Instead, it depends on its certifying agents — 96 licensed organizations in the U.S. and overseas — to decide for themselves what it means for a product to be available in organic form. Despite years of discussion, the USDA has yet to provide certifiers with standardized guidelines for enforcing this rule.

"There is no effective mechanism for identifying a lack of organic ingredients," complained executives of Pennsylvania Certified Organic, a nonprofit certifying agent, in a letter to the USDA. "It is a very challenging task to 'prove a negative' regarding the organic supply."

In 2005, a federal judge disagreed with how the USDA was applying the law and gave the agency two years to revise its rules.

Organic food supporters had hoped that the USDA would allow only a small number of substances, but were dismayed last month when the agency released the proposed list of 38 ingredients.

"Adding 38 new ingredients is not just a concession by the USDA, it is a major blow to the organic movement in the U.S. because it would erode consumer confidence in organic standards," said Carl Chamberlain, a research assistant with the Pesticide Education Project in Raleigh, N.C.

In addition to hops, the list includes 19 food colorings, two starches, casings for sausages and hot dogs, fish oil, chipotle chili pepper, gelatin and a host of obscure ingredients.

Large companies have a better chance of winning approval to use nonorganic ingredients because the amount they demand can exceed the small supply of organic equivalents, said Craig Minowa, environmental scientist for the Organic Consumers Assn.

Steve - of the 38 nonorganic ingredients, these are the only 4 we have an issue with:

Casings, from processed intestines (no CAS ) for use in meet products. The justification for adding non-organic casings to the National List is based upon insufficient availability of processed intestines from organically produced animals.

Gelatin is used as a stabilizer, thickener, or texturizer in a variety of foods. The NOSB recommended adding gelatin to the National List for use in organic handling as a non-organic agricultural ingredient where the organic form of gelatin is considered commercially unavailable.

Hops was petitioned for use as a non- organic agricultural ingredient in or on processed products labeled as ``organic.'' Hops are a primary ingredient used in brewing beer. Due to these unique characteristics that are contributed to a specific brewing process, brewers cannot interchange hop varieties should a selected variety be commercially unavailable without significant changes in the final product.

Whey protein concentrations of 35% and 80% was petitioned for use as a non-organic agricultural ingredient in or on processed products labeled as ``organic.'' Organic cheese manufacturers reportedly divert whey by-product to more lucrative markets than currently exist with the manufacture of whey protein concentrate, thus availability of whey by-product from organic cheese processing is considered to be very limited.