The USDA’s National Organic Program protects consumers from false organic claims on food. Only foods that are third-party certified to the USDA’s organic standards can be advertised as organic.
Not so with non-food products. The USDA allows health and beauty products to be certified to USDA organic standards, but it doesn’t require all products that are marketed as organic to be certified.
The result is that organic integrity varies from aisle to aisle in the grocery store. When shopping for health and beauty products, shoppers are bombarded with organic claims on products that aren’t actually certified organic. Unless the product is certified organic, it’s almost impossible to tell what percentage of the ingredients are organic and which ingredients are synthetic, petroleum-derived or dangerous. And, as our tests for 1,4 dioxane have shown, certain formulations can even produce hidden toxins that don’t appear on the label.
On a recent visit to Whole Foods, we found scores of brands with products that are advertised as organic but not certified. By June 1, 2011, these products will either have to be third-party certified to USDA organic standards or stop making front-label organic claims. That’s the result of a newly revised Whole Foods policy announced June 8, 2010, “Whole Foods Market’s policy on the use of the word “organic” on personal care products.”
This is great news that will surely have ripple effects through the industry and even impact the course the USDA will take. To date, the National Organic Program has refused to act on a USDA National Organic Standards Board recommendation, “Solving the Problem of Mislabeled Organic Personal Care Products,” that said all organic claims should be certified.
The industry has used a variety of delay tactics that have allowed non-certified organic products to capture market share by misleading consumers. The Organic Trade Association, which allows these bogus labeling claims by many non-certified “organic” brands among its members, is now saying that it supports USDA certification for organic personal care products, but that certification shouldn’t be required until there are special standards. OTA admits this is a “long-term policy option that will take significant time and resources.” In other words OTA appears willing to allow organic labeling fraud to continue for an extended period of time, economically benefiting some of its unscrupulous members, but ripping off organic consumers and undermining organic integrity in the meantime.
Much will depend on whether other retailers, distributors and trade associations follow the good example Whole Foods has set. Will OTA, UNFI (United Natural Foods, Inc.), and the National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA) take Whole Foods’ lead? Will your local natural products store continue to sell non-certified “organic” health and beauty products?
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