seal of approval

Consumers shelling out extra cash for organic foods will soon be able to rest assured that what they are buying is indeed the genuine article. Last December, more than a decade after Congress first ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to devise national criteria for labeling organic food, the USDA announced the final adoption of strict federal organic standards. "It was worth the wait," says Katherine DiMatteo, executive director of the Organic Trade Association. "In the end, they've given us a rule that clearly defines organic standards."

First and foremost, the new rules specify that produce labeled "USDA Organic" cannot be grown with synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. In addition, organic crops cannot be produced with the use of irradiation, biotechnology or sewer sludge fertilizer--all methods the USDA was prepared to allow in the first set of standards it proposed back in 1997. But after a barrage of criticism from organic producers and consumers alike, the agency banned these practices in the revised final standards.

The rules for processed organic foods like cereals and cookies are a bit more complicated. To earn the "USDA Organic" label, they must contain at least 95 percent organic ingredients. Those that contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients may be labeled "made with organic ingredients," but any products with less than 70 percent organic ingredients may only use the word organic in the ingredients list.

There are still kinks to be worked out, of course, including the regulations for specialty crops like honey and mushrooms, but DiMatteo thinks these issues will be ironed out in the coming months. She also expects the Bush Administration to be supportive of the final standards. "It doesn't seem like a strong political position to take that the organic industry is anything but a boon to U.S. agriculture," she says. After all, the industry posted $7.76 billion in retail sales last year alone.

The federal standards, which will be fully enforced by mid-2002; are expected to help farmers market their products abroad as well as increase customer confidence in organic foods. Arran Stephens, founder and CEO of Nature's Path Foods Inc., a Canadian organic foods company with upwards of $40 million in sales each year, is confident that the standards will win new customers. Says Stephens, "I think it will strengthen our industry's credibility and reduce some of the last barriers that consumers might feel about buying organic."

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