I received my All You magazine and read it last night. I was interested in one particular article that discusses how to fit organic food into your budget and what allows a seller to state their food is organic.
- Food must be produced without synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics or growth hormones.
- Food cannot be genetically modified, include animal parts or come into contact with sewage sludge (i.e. our wastes retrieved from wastewater treatments plants<-- yes, they do that as I used to be a state inspector for a state agency) or ionizing radiation.
What do the labels mean?
- USDA Organic - single ingredient foods (fruit and vegetables, milk, meat, eggs or cheese) certified under USDA rules and multi-ingredients products made with at least 95% organic ingredients.
- 100% Organic - all the ingredients in multi-ingredient foods with this label are organic.
- Organic - products bearing this label contain at least 95% organic ingredients. The remaining ingredients are not available organically but have been approved by the USDA's National Organic Program.
- Made with Organic Ingredients - these products must contain at least 70% organic ingredients.